Entrepreneur Of The Year® East Central

Honoring the ambitious entrepreneurs who are shaping the future.

Applications for the 2025 program are now open.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 60 countries globally.

This program honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. We celebrate original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.

The East Central program includes Kentucky, Northeast & South Central Ohio*, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia (*excludes Northwest Ohio). Each year, a panel of independent judges selects regional finalists and winners who are recognized during an awards celebration in June. The regional winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November, where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year competition.

Visit the Entrepreneur Of The Year Hall of Fame to search our directory of past award winners.

2024 East Central winners

Meet the winners

Program information

Build valuable relationships with entrepreneurs who are leading successful businesses across a variety of industries.
Increase exposure to potential customers, suppliers and investors.
Recognize your company’s success within the local business community and celebrate your team.
Gain access to exclusive peer-to-peer learning and networking experiences.
Connect with EY subject-matter resources for guidance on fostering long-term value creation.
The entrepreneur

The entrepreneur must be the CEO or president of a private or public company who is primarily responsible for the recent performance of the company.
The entrepreneur may be the original founder, a multigenerational family business leader, or a transformational CEO of a company or subsidiary who is not the founder.
The entrepreneur must have been in the role for at least two years by the application deadline.
Previous finalists and applicants who did not win are eligible to reapply.
Former award winners may reapply if they have founded or transitioned to a new company.

The company

Companies must have been in business for at least two years to be eligible.
Companies are most competitive when they demonstrate long-term value.
Only for-profit businesses may apply.

Judging criteria

The independent panel of judges evaluates nominees on a variety of criteria, including, but not limited to:

Entrepreneurial spirit
Purpose
Growth
Impact
Financial performance
The 2024 program dates are:

December 2023: Applications open
March 1: Application deadline
March–April: Regional nominee interviews with EY team and select sponsors
April 26: East Central finalists announced
May 8: East Central finalist interviews with judges, Cleveland, OH
June 13: East Central Awards celebration, Cleveland, OH
Early fall: Regional alumni receptions
November 13–16: Strategic Growth Forum, including the National awards celebration

2024 regional finalists are building the economy of tomorrow

*Over the most recent three-year period

Learn more

Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 overall winner

Meet the 2024 National winners and finalists