Fred Potthoff, Co-founder, Kroff Inc.
FINALIST / MANUFACTURING Fred Potthoff knows firsthand the power of establishing relationships. As a young pharmaceutical salesman, his career was propelled upward when a parking attendant he’d gotten to know at one of his call sites was asked for advice on filling a sales position. That attendant recommended Potthoff, and he secured the job. Potthoff […]
Nancy Schlichting, CEO, Henry Ford Health System
Winner, Spirit of Entrepreneurship It was a great opportunity but, unquestionably, a great challenge as well. For the first time since 1915, Henry Ford Health System was going to build a new hospital. The health care system had grown since that time, but it was through acquisition rather than new construction. Nancy Schlichting felt the […]
Mike O’Neill, CEO; John Nickel, president; Kevin Quigley, executive vice president; Switch: Liberate Your Brand
FINALISTS Due to the strategic collaboration of three executives to diversify its revenue base, Switch: Liberate Your Brand is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary as an independent organization with a portfolio of clients that includes big names such as Coca-Cola, 5-Hour Energy, Elsevier, Vitamin Water and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, among others. The experiential marketing agency, […]
Oscar Horton, president and CEO, Sun State International Trucks LLC
FINALIST – Retail and Consumer Products Oscar Horton president and CEO Sun State International Trucks LLC Oscar Horton’s strong work ethic led to his rapid ascension within International Truck and Engine. Wanting to more directly impact people’s lives, however, he resigned from his comfortable executive position to set out on his own and take on […]
Jeff Walker, president, Super D
FINALIST – Consumer Products Jeff Walker president Super D Jeff Walker was still attending the University of California-Irvine when he wrote his business plan for a music store. After graduating, he teamed up with a business partner to open a CD listening bar in San Juan Capistrano in 1990. Over the next 21 years, Walker […]
Gary Rabine, CEO, The Rabine Group
FINALIST: Master Entrepreneur Gary Rabine enjoyed working for his father’s business growing up, cultivating a knack for grading yards and driveways. Later, working for a family friend’s paving company, as well, Rabine realized that paving was his passion. At just 18, he started his own paving business, partnering with his dad and enlisting help from […]
Peter Duncan, Executive Chairman and Founder, MicroSeismic Inc.
FINALIST / OIL FIELD TECHNOLOGY With more than 30 years in the geophysical industry applied to three companies he founded, Peter Duncan has a practiced skill in bridging ideas from the research stage to commercialized technology. Duncan, fascinated with the notion of “seismic imaging without sources,” saw an opportunity to improve the traditional approach to […]
Reed Mahany, President, RECO Equipment Inc.
FINALIST / CONSTRUCTION When Reed Mahany’s boss told him that he was a natural salesperson, it was a trait that he didn’t necessarily see in himself. On his first day in sales at RECO Equipment Inc., sitting on a stack of phone books — there weren’t enough desks — he may have wondered if he […]
Lee Maen, Philip Cummins, partners, Innovative Dining Group
Finalists – Food Services Lee Maen and Philip Cummins were dissatisfied with the general quality of dining in Los Angeles. Using their expertise in the nightclub business, they opened their first restaurant in 1997. The partners would eventually operate West Hollywood, Calif.- based Innovative Dining Group, a chain of dining brands that focuses on offering […]
How to control your risk of cyber breaches and other virtual threats
Jason Corrado, First Commonwealth Bank