Lynn Mustazza, President and CEO, JAWOOD Business Process Solutions LLC
Semifinalist, Business Services Lynn Mustazza has been an entrepreneur since the age of 5, when she convinced her parents to purchase a Frosty the Snow Man snow-cone machine. With the machine in a wagon and the wagon in hand, Mustazza hit the streets, soon turning a 3-cent profit. Unfortunately, her venture was cut short when […]
Mark Symonds, President and CEO, Plex Systems Inc.
Semifinalist, Business Services As president and CEO of Plex Systems Inc., Mark Symonds has high standards for his company and his employees, but he also works hard to create a culture of fun and creativity. Symonds knows a major leadership challenge is putting the right people in place at a company to allow for growth […]
Brant and Brock Bukowsky, co-founders, Veterans United Home Loans
WINNER – Financial Services Brock and Brant Bukowsky co-founders Veterans United Home Loans Brothers Brant and Brock Bukowsky are no strangers to entrepreneurship. While students at the University of Missouri, they started a small business health care insurance company from their dorm room, and later, after Brock won a football ticket from a soda can, […]
Julia Poston embraced recessionary challenges to take Ernst & Young Cincinnati to new levels
How to ready your business for change and uncertainty
Melvin E. Clark Jr., CEO, G.W. Peoples Contracting Co. Inc.
FINALIST / CONSTRUCTION Melvin E. Clark Jr. grew up with the idea that helping people is a good and honorable thing — and he’s incorporated that philosophy into his life in business. The son of an evangelical minister, Clark has built a network of friends and associates who believe in his leadership style and who […]
Dr. Frank Alderman, CEO, MedExpress Urgent Care
WINNER / HEALTH SCIENCES Dr. Frank Alderman, CEO of medical care provider MedExpress Urgent Care, is a consummate entrepreneur. The youngest of six children, he and his siblings had limited financial means and depended on one another and community organizations for basic survival. He started working at an early age and put himself through college, […]
Donald A. Hicks, President and CEO, LLamasoft
Finalist, Business Services When Donald Hicks pitched a new software product to the CEO of the small consulting company he worked for in 1995, he was told it wouldn’t work. However, he decided to trust his instincts and spent the next six months creating the product, called SimRunner, which became the first off-the-shelf simulation-optimization package. […]
Bryan Johnson, founder and chairman, Braintree Inc.
FINALIST: Emerging Entrepreneur Bryan Johnson built Braintree Inc. out of a path that started with empty pockets. In 2003, broke and unable to pay his bills, Johnson accepted the only job he could find: a commission-only, door-to-door sales position for a company that offered credit card processing services to businesses. In his first year with […]
Dan Lubeck: Triumphant transactions
It’s more than economics; it’s the life you desire
Joseph Zeno, president and CEO, ACS Industries Inc.
FINALIST: Distribution and Manufacturing During his 37 years of leading ACS Industries Inc., President and CEO Joe Zeno has overcome many obstacles. Beginning in 1974, he began the task of guiding an insolvent company to 35 consecutive years of profits. When ACS needed to purchase manufacturing equipment, he mortgaged his house to provide the needed […]