Ernst & Young LLP is pleased to announce the winners of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® award in the Carolinas. This group of leading entrepreneurs was selected by an independent judging panel made up of regional business, academic and community leaders. The winners were revealed at a gala event on June 17, 2010 at The Westin Charlotte hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Ernst & Young believes in the power of entrepreneurship," said Kent Geer, Ernst & Young LLP Entrepreneur Of The Year Program Director for the Carolinas. "These Entrepreneur Of The Year award winners are best in class, and we are proud to honor their outstanding success."
The Carolinas award recipients for the Ernst & Young LLP Entrepreneur Of The Year award in 2010 are:
- Thomas P. Baliker, President, Spartan Foods of America, Inc., Spartanburg, SC
- Jud Bowman, President and CEO, PocketGear, Durham, NC
- Leah Brown, President and CEO, A10 Clinical Solutions, Cary, NC
- Craig A. Collard, President and CEO, Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc., Cary, NC
- Randy Kibler, CEO, Bojangles' Restaurants, Inc., Charlotte, NC
- Lawrence D. Stern, Chairman and CEO, Talecris Biotherapeutics, RTP, NC
- Charles M. Swoboda, CEO, CREE, Durham, NC
- Stephen Wiehe, President and CEO, SciQuest, Inc., Cary, NC
- Stephen P. Zelnak, Jr., Chairman (retired), Martin Marietta Materials, Raleigh, NC
- Jane Zhang, Founder and CEO, JH Global Services, Inc., Greenville, SC
The Entrepreneur Of The Year® program honors entrepreneurs regionally in June, leading up to the national awards in November. Additionally, venture-backed companies that win an Entrepreneur Of The Year® award regionally are also eligible for the Venture Capital Award of Excellence on a national level. The overall national US winner then moves on to compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year title in June.
This year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year awards program celebrates its 24th anniversary. The program has expanded to recognize business leaders in over 135 cities in 50 countries throughout the world. Awards are given to entrepreneurs who demonstrate extraordinary success in the areas of innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Entrepreneurs are nominated and evaluated by those in each region, including local business, academic and community leaders.
All regional honorees are invited to the national Entrepreneur Of The Year® gala, hosted by Jay Leno, on November 13, 2010 in Palm Springs, California. The gala is the culminating event of the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum®, the nation's most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies. For more information on the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum, please visit www.ey.com/us/strategicgrowthforum.