Robert Stewart Sr., president, Lime Instruments
Oil Field Technology – Finalist Robert Stewart Sr. seeks the best from himself and others in all relationships. As president of Lime Instruments, a well service controls and instrumentation company, Stewart not only recognizes and nurtures the talents of his team, employees, customers and vendors alike but is ready to offer assistance whenever and wherever […]
Aaron Grossman, president, Alliance Solutions Group
FINALIST: Services and Management Solutions At age 27, after a successful stint leading the Accountemps division of Robert Half International, Aaron Grossman sought a new challenge. He left his position and, along with two partners, formed Alliance Solutions Group LLC. Five years later, in 2006, he became the company’s president, and since then has led […]
Jorge A. Plasencia, chairman and CEO, República
EMERGING, AWARD RECIPIENT Jorge A. Plasencia didn’t just start working at 14 — he started his lifelong career. An intern at Radio Mambí, he worked in radio throughout high school, and by his senior year, he secured a position as program director of the stations. From there, Plasencia moved on to progressive positions that greatly […]
Larry Augustin, CEO, SugarCRM
TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, FINALIST When Larry Augustin was growing up, he spent his summers on the family farm fixing equipment. He gained a work ethic that has helped form his approach in business: “Walk in and fix things” — to identify problems and solve them. Since he began as CEO in 2009, Augustin used this approach […]
Seth Burgett, chairman and CEO, Yurbuds Sports Earphones
FINALIST The idea for Yurbuds Sport Earphones came when Seth Burgett was training for his first Ironman triathlon. He completed a six-hour workout each Saturday, and after one such workout, he realized his ears hurt from his earphones worse than his legs. He joined forces with co-founder Richard Daniels, a 24-time marathoner, to develop an […]
July Cleveland Deals
Pace of deals slow a bit in May
Parker Hinshaw, chairman of the board, maxIT Healthcare
FINALIST: Health Sciences It was certainly not the best of times when Parker Hinshaw founded maxIT Healthcare. He had just sold his previous company, but the acquisition did not go well, and Hinshaw ended up $4 million in debt and was at risk of losing his home. Despite all the tumult, Hinshaw pushed forwarded. Through […]
Marty Kanan, president and CEO, King Nut Cos.
FINALIST: Retail and ConsumerProducts Marty Kanan was facing a challenge that could have brought down his business. King Nut’s peanut butter had been co-packed with peanut butter from another manufacturer and as a result, salmonella had been introduced to a number of products. Kanan, president and CEO, needed to act fast and so he decided […]
Stephan Liozu: The price is right
How involved are you with pricing in your business?
Dr. Reggie Chandra, founder and CEO, Rhythm Engineering
FINALIST As the founder of Rhythm Engineering, a privately held company that creates traffic management systems for traffic signals, Dr. Reggie Chandra leads his team by communicating a vision, defining a plan of attack, then stepping back and letting his team go to work. Chandra, who has a doctoral degree in organizational leadership and is […]