Robert Daley and Henry Thorne, Co-founders, 4moms
FINALIST / TECHNOLOGY When Robert Daley and Henry Thorne founded 4moms in 2005, they combined Daley’s venture capital experience with Thorne’s engineering background to create innovative, high-tech products for home use. The company’s name comes from Daley and Thorne’s original focus group, composed of four mothers, who helped the duo explore products to serve the […]
Brian Fielkow, president, Jetco Delivery
Logistics & Industrial Services — Finalist In 2006, Brian Fielkow risked his entire net worth and purchased Jetco Delivery. The purchase fulfilled Fielkow’s dream of owning his own business — a dream that hasn’t wavered, even when he and the company faced the Great Recession a few years ago. As the trucking industry slid to […]
Shiela Kaye Rossmann, CEO, Paramount Precision Products Inc.
Winner, Manufacturing When Sheila Kaye Rossmann purchased Paramount Precision Products Inc. with her four former partners in 1999, the company was in financial duress, operating with a split focus and in need of a clear vision. Since taking full ownership of the business, Rossmann has never been deterred but met these challenges to grow the […]
John Eulich, chairman and CEO, ASPEQ Holdings Inc.
FINALIST John Eulich Chairman and CEO ASPEQ Holdings Inc. Leadership is in John S. Eulich’s blood. It has been ever since he developed a personal business plan while at Harvard Business School. This innate desire to lead would serve him well as he embarked on a mission to save INDEECO, a manufacturer of electric heating […]
Charles Dunlop, CEO, Ambry Genetics
FINALIST – Life Sciences & Public Service Charles Dunlop CEO Ambry Genetics Dunlop grew up in Laguna Beach, Calif., where he did a lot of surfing, a lot of reading and a lot of imagining. It was his thirst for knowledge and creative outlets that led him to form Ambry Genetics Corp. in 1999, while […]
Hugh Jones, president and CEO, Accuity Inc.
FINALIST: Financial Services Hugh Jones doesn’t settle for business as usual. He has always looked to work with businesses he can drive to improve and grow. So when he joined Accuity — now a part of BankersAccuity — in 2008, at the head of the financial crisis, he relished the challenge to help the financial […]
Allen Howard, President and CEO, NuTech Energy Alliance Ltd.
FINALIST / OIL FIELD TECHNOLOGY When NuTech Energy Alliance faced the economic downturn, its president and CEO, Allen Howard, led the company through the worst and helped it emerge as a more focused organization. In contrast to the many companies laying off large numbers of professionals, Howard took the risk to strengthen NuTech’s organization and […]
John Sztykiel, CEO, Spartan Motors
Semifinalist, Manufacturing John Sztykiel, CEO of Spartan Motors, focuses his leadership of the company on understanding consumers’ wants and expectations.Spartan Motors makes chassis, vehicles, bodies and parts for emergency rescue, recreational vehicle and specialty vehicle markets, and the company’s leaders consider Spartan more than just a niche manufacturer in the automotive business. The message Sztykiel […]
Fred Potthoff, Co-founder, Kroff Inc.
FINALIST / MANUFACTURING Fred Potthoff knows firsthand the power of establishing relationships. As a young pharmaceutical salesman, his career was propelled upward when a parking attendant he’d gotten to know at one of his call sites was asked for advice on filling a sales position. That attendant recommended Potthoff, and he secured the job. Potthoff […]
Nancy Schlichting, CEO, Henry Ford Health System
Winner, Spirit of Entrepreneurship It was a great opportunity but, unquestionably, a great challenge as well. For the first time since 1915, Henry Ford Health System was going to build a new hospital. The health care system had grown since that time, but it was through acquisition rather than new construction. Nancy Schlichting felt the […]