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 […]
Dr. Denise Reading, president, Global Corporate College
FINALIST: Services and Management Solutions When a client from Dr. Denise Reading’s former business challenged her about the limits of her organization’s localized corporate training model, she didn’t disagree. Instead she launched Global Corporate College, a company whose national human capital training and development distribution model could close the “talent gap” for globally located companies, […]
Doug Schukar, president and CEO, USA Mortgage
FINALIST What many saw as a failure, Doug Schukar saw as an opportunity. When his former employer, LoanSurfer.com, filed for bankruptcy, Schukar acquired select company assets, including the USA Mortgage name and the right to cherry-pick those he wanted to hire for his new start-up. He completed the acquisition in 2001, forming DAS Acquisition Co. […]
Will Fleming, co-founder and CEO, MotionPoint Corp.
FINALIST – Technology Will Fleming co-founder and CEO MotionPoint Corp. After top executives at several companies told Will Fleming and his co-founder, Adam Rubenstein, that they saw a need in the future for having multilingual websites, they created MotionPoint Corp. While there was a demand for multilingual websites, companies did not want the costly IT […]
Adam Jay Harrison, Managing Director, Mav6 LLC
AWARD RECIPIENT / TECHNOLOGY As a former U.S. Navy member in the field of technology, Adam Jay Harrison knows first hand the value of defensive technology to the survival of deployed soldiers. His passion for helping protect those who serve in the military eventually led him to award-winning success guiding a special endeavor for the […]
Michael M. Earley, chairman and CEO, Metropolitan Health Networks Inc.
AWARD RECIPIENT – Health Care Michael M. Earley chairman and CEO Metropolitan Health Networks Inc. In 2003, the board of directors for Metropolitan Health Networks Inc. asked Michael M. Earley to take over the CEO role at the primary care network for seniors. Earley packed his bags to begin what was intended to be a […]