Ernst & Young LLP Opens Nominations for Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2012 Awards in Florida

Award Celebrates the Country’s Most Innovative Business Leaders

TAMPA, Fla.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Ernst & Young LLP 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.

“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.”

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.

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in Florida (2011)

Last year, 13 entrepreneurs in 11 categories from Florida were selected as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award recipients from nearly 100 nominations. These were:

Central Florida

• Financial Services category – Peter R. Kassabov, chairman and CEO, Digital Risk, LLC, Maitland

South Florida

• Distribution and Manufacturing category – Mark A. Llano, president and CEO, Source One Distributors, Inc., Wellington
• Emerging category – John J. Flynn, founder, president and CEO, Fleet Advantage, Fort Lauderdale
• Health Care category – James E. Patrick, CEO, National Healing Corporation, Boca Raton
• Lifetime Achievement award – Mike Jackson, chairman and CEO, AutoNation, Inc., Fort Lauderdale
• Real Estate and Construction Services category – Jose R. Mas, CEO, MasTec, Inc., Coral Gables
• Retail and Consumer Products category – Rick Case, founder, chairman and CEO, and Rita Case, vice chairman, Rick Case Automotive, Fort Lauderdale

West Central Florida:

• Business Services category – Michael K. Ferris, president and CEO, Valet Waste, LLC, Tampa
• Consumer Services category – Joseph Acebal and Richard Mikles, co-founders and co-CEOs, Ideal Image Development Corporation, Tampa
• Corporate Innovator category – Mindy Grossman, CEO, HSNi, St. Petersburg
• Technology category – Ron Roma, CEO/owner, Healthesystems, LLC, Tampa

Receiving national honors in Palm Springs, Calif., in November 2011, Jose R. Mas, CEO, MasTec, Inc., Coral Gables, was named a national award recipient in the real estate, construction and lodging category. Peter R. Kassabov, chairman and CEO, Digital Risk, LLC, Maitland, was named a national finalist in the financial services category and Ron Roma, CEO/owner, Healthesystems, LLC, Tampa, was named a national finalist in the services category.

“This program honors the outstanding entrepreneurs in our area,” says Gramling. “These entrepreneurs make our community a better place by providing jobs, developing new products and services and encouraging economic development. They deserve our support and recognition.”

Nationally, more than 250 entrepreneurs from across the nation were selected as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011 Award recipients from more than 1,900 nominations. Past award recipients have included Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee Company, Arthur M. Blank of AMB Group, LLC (Home Depot, Atlanta Falcons), Pierre Omidyar of eBay, Inc., Ruth Fertel of Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Maxine Clark of Build-a-Bear, Tom Adams of Rosetta Stone, Matt Szulik of Red Hat and the 2011 national winners, Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year Program honors entrepreneurs regionally in June. All regional honorees are then invited to the national Entrepreneur Of The Year gala, hosted by Jay Leno, on Nov. 17, 2012 in Palm Springs, Calif. The gala is the culminating event of the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum^®, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies. For more information on the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum, please visit www.ey.com/us/strategicgrowthforum.

The overall national U.S. winner will compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year title in Monaco in June 2013.

Awards criteria

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.

Information is available at www.ey.com/us/eoy. For information on the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in Florida, please visit www.ey.com/us/florida_EOY.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are sponsored nationally by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Florida platinum sponsors include Carlton Fields, Fifth Third Bank, Tribridge and Vaco; silver sponsor RFB Communications Group and media sponsor Smart Business Network.

Contact information

For more information about the program, please contact Beverly Eha, Ernst & Young Florida program manager at [e-mail] or visit www.ey.com/us/florida_EOY. Information is also available at www.ey.com/us/eoy.

About Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year

Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses; recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 140 cities in 50 countries.

About Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 152,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.

For more information, please visit ey.com.

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This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young LLP, a U.S. client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited.