Eric R. Castro, Robert T. Castro & Albert C. Crawford, founders, Bankers Healthcare Group Inc.
FINANCIAL SERVICES, AWARD RECIPIENT From an early age, Eric and Robert Castro were pondering how they could make their mark on the world. When they met Albert Crawford at a networking event in 2001 and they recognized their combined expertise in the health care financing industry, they saw it as an opportunity to create something […]
Jose Prendes, founder and CEO, PureFormulas.com
EMERGING, FINALIST José Prendes’ success in building his entrepreneurial vision into a tangible reality has not come without its challenges. Shortly after moving his first venture operations into a larger office and warehouse, his plans for the growth and expansion were devastated by the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Unable to fully recover the […]
Darron Anderson, CEO, Express Energy Services LP
Oil Field Services – Finalist It was all going so well for Darron Anderson. Investors bought the business that he had built into a success. Anderson felt disconnected from the company’s operations. He needed a new challenge and found it in Express Energy Services LP. This was a company that was growing and it seemed […]
Alan Schulman, president and CEO, Glentronics Inc.
Retail and Consumer Products – Finalist The sump pump market in which Glentronics Inc. competes is very established and has dozens of competitors. Prior to the company entering the field, much of it was dominated by one product. Today, that product is almost nonexistent, and Glentronics leads the market these days. Alan Schulman, president and […]
Bobby Harris, president and CEO, BlueGrace Logistics
EMERGING, FINALIST Bobby Harris represents the true spirit of an entrepreneur. Four-and-a-half years ago when his employer went out of business, and with a wife and two small children at home, he took a huge risk and opened his own company in the freight and logistics industry. In an uncertain economy, there was no way […]
John D. Schiller Jr., founder, chairman and CEO, Energy XXI Ltd.
Exploration & Production – Finalist John D. Schiller Jr. took something from every experience he had after graduating from Texas A&M University and going into the oil and gas business. He watched the business change significantly and experienced many of the mergers and consolidations that took place through the 1980s and 1990s. It all put […]
Burton Goldfield president and CEO, TriNet
TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, FINALIST The job of the entrepreneur is to create the vision and the passion that drive a company. That’s the belief motivating Burton Goldfield, who’s used his blended engineering and business background to innovate at California-based TriNet. Joining the company as president and CEO in 2008, Goldfield immediately set about making changes to […]
Tim McEnery, founder and CEO, Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants
Retail and Consumer Products – Finalist Tim McEnery always knew he wanted to be a restaurateur. Starting out in hospitality at the age of 11 as a dishwasher, he worked his way through the ranks to become a manager by high school. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in restaurant and hotel management from Purdue University, […]
Mary Quass, president and CEO, NRG Media LLC
FINALIST Mary Quass, president and CEO of NRG Media LLC, doesn’t believe she was born an entrepreneur. She believes in the hard work that allowed her to achieve her goals. Quass entered the media industry when she resigned from a management position at a furniture store to work on commission selling radio advertisements. It was […]
Dana Sellers, CEO, Encore Health Resources
Health Care & Health Care Services – Finalist Dana Sellers could not have picked a worse time to launch a business. The recession that was rocking the global economy had taken hold and was showing no signs of letting go. She was confident she had the makings of a great business model to succeed in […]