Simon Bax, CEO; Bill Tillson, president and COO, Encompass Digital Media Inc.
Winners – Media Simon Bax and Bill Tillson met when the companies they worked for collaborated on a project together. At the end of the project, the two remained friends, and in 2007, they began to talk about potential business opportunities. They both shared a belief that the number of linear television channels around the […]
Dana Sellers, CEO, Encore Health Resources
Health Care & Health care Services, Finalist Dana Sellers could not have picked a worse time to launch a business. The recession that was rocking the global economy had taken hold and was showing no signs of letting go. She was confident though that she had the makings of a great business model to succeed […]
Sandy Scott, CEO, Sprint Industrial Holdings LLC
Logistics & Industrial Services, Finalist Sandy Scott always challenges herself to be better than she was the day before. As CEO of Sprint Industrial Holdings LLC, a provider of industrial equipment rentals used in the oil and gas industry, she expects the same from her company. Over the past two years, Scott has worked to […]
Donald Klein, president, Chesmar Homes Ltd.
Consumer Products & Services, Finalist Donald Klein had been leading the home building industry at large national homebuilders for more than 27 years when he decided in 2005 that it was time to do so under his own terms — creating Chesmar Homes Ltd. as a vehicle for realizing his vision. In the seven years […]
Honoring the best of the best
This group of honorees represent those individuals who pursued and obtained the coveted distinction of an Entrepreneur Of The Year Finalist. Smart Business, along with Ernst & Young, is proud to recognize and honor the accomplishments of these entrepreneurs.
John Magee, president, Crane Worldwide Logistics
Logistics & Industrial Services, Finalist Sometimes in business you have to follow your gut feeling. That is exactly what John Magee had to do when making the tough decision to leave his former company. When Magee’s previous logistics company was faced with a hostile takeover from a private equity company, he saw things he couldn’t […]
Honoring the best of the best
This group of honorees represent those individuals who pursued and obtained the coveted distinction of an Entrepreneur Of The Year Finalist. Smart Business, along with Ernst & Young, is proud to recognize and honor the accomplishments of these entrepreneurs.
Antonio R. Grijalva, chairman and CEO; John W. Allen, president and COO; G&A Partners
Business Services, Finalists Antonio “Tony” Grijalva and John W. Allen experienced a lot before joining together to lead G&A Partners. Grijalva arrived in the United States at 19 with $25 in his pocket and a desire to become a self-sufficient individual. Allen spent two years in South Korea on a mission trip for his church […]
How choosing the right ZIP code could have a major impact on your business
Thom Davis, CIO, Omega Environmental Technologies
Rick Pleczko, Idera, chairman, president and CEO
Technology — Finalist Rick Pleczko paved his own way in life — from teaching himself computer programming 30 years ago to leaving a well-paying job at a large software company to finance and co-found his own business in 2004. As chairman, president and CEO of Houston-based Idera — formerly BBS Technologies — Pleczko has continued […]