Nominations Open for Florida Entrepreneur Of The Year
TAMPA - Ernst & Young is calling for nominations for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 Awards, recognized as one of the most prestigious business award programs in the country. The deadline for applications is March 9, 2012, with the Florida Awards ceremony scheduled for Thursday, June 14 in Orlando.
Now in its 26th year, the program has honored the inspirational leadership of such entrepreneurs as Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com, Michael Dell of Dell Inc., Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, Fred Smith of FedEx, Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Richard Schulze of Best Buy, Andrew Mason of Groupon, Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn, and many more. Closer to home, Florida award recipients have included Wayne Huizenga of Huizenga Holdings and Mindy Grossman of HSN, Inc.
“Entrepreneurs are the key to the innovation, economic growth and job creation that we need so desperately in America right now,” says Patrick Gramling, Ernst & Young partner and Entrepreneur Of The Year Florida Program Host “Our Entrepreneur Of The Year Program celebrates the stories of these men and women whose confidence, tenacity and drive to be the next business leaders are already impacting the way we live and work as well as the revitalization of our economy.”
Award recipients are selected in a number of industry categories by a panel of independent judges, including previous award recipients, leading CEOs, private capital investors and other Florida business leaders. Entrepreneurs may nominate themselves or be nominated by peers and other business leaders.
Awards are given to entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Self-nominations are encouraged, and there is no fee. Application forms must be received by March 9, 2012.
Entrepreneurs eligible for consideration include not only company founders, but also leaders of multigeneration family businesses and transformational public and private company CEOs. Additionally, the nominee’s company must be at least two years old.
For information on the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in Florida, please visit www.ey.com/us/florida_EOY.
