David Hagan, president and CEO, Boingo Wireless Inc.
Finalist – Technology When the founder and CEO of Boingo Wireless Inc. left to start another business in 2004, the business was in pretty bad shape – burning through $1 million monthly, running in the red. So when David Hagan, the president of the company, had the opportunity to take a job paying three times […]
TJ Farnsworth, Founder and CEO, SightLine Health LLC
FINALIST / HEALTH CARE & HEALTH CARE SERVICES TJ Farnsworth, founder and CEO of SightLine Health LLC, was born and bred an entrepreneur. He grew up in a household where his mother, a schoolteacher, started a series of her own successful businesses, and his father, an attorney, started his own boutique practice. He never thought […]
Christopher DeClaire, Co-founder and CAO, Vantage Drilling Co.
FINALIST / OIL FIELD SERVICES A big part of Christopher DeClaire’s personality is to give credit to his team for the success of Vantage Drilling Co., a deep water and high specification jack-up drilling company. DeClaire and his co-founder Paul Bragg, also the company’s CEO, have assembled a seasoned team of drilling industry veterans who […]
Grant Oliphant, President and CEO, The Pittsburgh Foundation
FINALIST / NONPROFIT When Grant Oliphant joined The Pittsburgh Foundation in March 2008, he was quick to point out that the organization urgently needed to redefine its role in the Pittsburgh community. But few knew the pace and extent of the changes that he had planned as president and CEO of one of the oldest […]
Joe Kiani, chairman and CEO, Masimo Corp.
WINNER – Life Sciences & Public Service Joe Kiani chairman and CEO Masimo Corp. Masimo Corp. Chairman and CEO Joe Kiani has built his company’s reputation by inventing noninvasive patient-monitoring devices. Masimo has accumulated a substantial intellectual property portfolio with more than 575 issued and pending patents worldwide. By taking on the nation’s most powerful […]
Michael I. Kaufman, founder, president and CEO, Kaufman Lynn Construction
FINALIST – Real Estate and Construction Michael I. Kaufman founder, president and CEO Kaufman Lynn Construction Michael I. Kaufman found himself out of work with a wife and four children to take care of. Instead of giving up, Kaufman decided to dust off his tools and take on odd jobs for homeowners. As he continued […]
Larry Porterfield, CEO, MidwayUSA
WINNER – Master Entrepreneur Larry Potterfield CEO MidwayUSA Larry Porterfield has learned throughout his career the importance of leading by example in order to drive change. As CEO of MidwayUSA, a catalog and Internet retailer of shooting, hunting and outdoor products, he has led his team to double-digit business growth and improved operational performance by […]
Emelio Castaneda, President, Field Fresh Foods Inc.
Finalist – Food Services When Emelio Castaneda, president of Field Fresh Foods Inc., was just 5 years old, his family members made the very difficult decision to leave their home, relatives and country for a better life. They fled communist Cuba for Spain, and two years later, they moved to Los Angeles. Castaneda watched his […]
Jon E. Kirchner, chairman and CEO, DTS Inc.
Winner – Technology Combining a competitive nature, a talent for teamwork and a desire to make a lasting impact in the audio technology industry, Jon E. Kirchner, chairman and CEO of DTS Inc., has dedicated himself to delivering best-in-class audio solutions. Kirchner has built an attractive, scalable, high-margin IP licensing business model that is sustained […]
Richard Degner, president and CEO, Global Geophysical Services
Oil Field Technology – Award Recipient Richard Degner had achieved more than many people do in an entire lifetime when he took a chance on launching Global Geophysical Services. He had spent 17 years working at an industry leader in geophysics before leaving to form PGS Onshore, the land and transition zone division of Norwegian […]