EY Announces Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 Southwest Finalists

Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates ambitious entrepreneurs who are building bolder futures

DALLAS, April 19, 2023 – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced the finalists for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 Southwest Award. The Southwest program celebrates entrepreneurs across North Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Wichita, Kansas. Now in its 37th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for transformative entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who are building a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous world for all.

These 40 entrepreneurs were selected as finalists by an independent panel of judges. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes

The 2023 Southwest finalists are:

Carter Malloy | AcreTrader | Fayetteville, Arkansas

Sean Minter | AmplifAI | Plano, Texas

Darron Eschle | Andrews Logistics Texas, LP | Southlake, Texas

Chris White | Athos Group, LLC | Irving, Texas

Suchi Acharya | AyuVis Research, Inc. | Fort Worth, Texas

Lauren Brooks | Bakery Bling | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Tanya Biggers | Big Star Transit, LLC | Dallas, Texas

Nate Henderson and Ahmed Qureshi | BILT Incorporated | Grapevine, Texas

Richard Stockton | Braemar Hotels & Resorts | Dallas, Texas

Chris Crosby | Compass Datacenters | Dallas, Texas

Matt Wadiak | Cooks Venture | Decatur, Arkansas

Chris Kendall | Denbury Inc. | Plano, Texas

Marcus Randolph | Ecobat | Dallas, Texas

Eddy Badrina | Eden Green | Cleburne, Texas

Elyse Dickerson | Eosera | Fort Worth, Texas

Jack Gibbons | FB Society | Dallas, Texas

Aaron Smith | FlexCare Infusion Centers | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

John Gustafson | Frontier Waste Solutions | Dallas, Texas

J. Brooks | GlassView | Fort Worth, Texas

Robin Alex, Shaun Clark and Varun Vairavan | HighLevel | Dallas, Texas

Dave Wengel | iDatafy | Little Rock, Arkansas

Mandy Price | Kanarys, Inc. | Dallas, Texas

Rod Millar | Likewize | Southlake, Texas

Kirt Linington | Linear Roofing & General Contractors | Addison, Texas

Sheldon Arora | LiquidAgents Healthcare | Plano, Texas

Matthew Bowers | Lone Star Analysis | Addison, Texas

Ebbah Realzola | MEXZIM Corporation | Dallas, Texas

Jordan Curnes | MicroTransponder | Dallas, Texas

Justin Simons | My Labs Direct | Plano, Texas

Matt Alexander | Neighborhood Goods | Plano, Texas

Chris Bradford and Kevin Wang | Newline Interactive | Allen, Texas

George Baker | ParkHub | Dallas, Texas

Blake Vincent and Bryan Vincent | Principal Industries | San Angelo, Texas

David Meadows and Derek Meadows | PureWine Inc | Southlake, Texas

Tom Brennan | Sol-Ark | Plano, Texas

Bryan Redmond | Suntex Marinas | Dallas, Texas

Lisa Hanlon-Knight | Teltech Communications | Frisco, Texas

Luke Hejl | TimelyCare | Fort Worth, Texas

Tom Parker | TJP Enterprises, LLC | Fort Worth, Texas

Daniel Chu | Tricolor Holdings | Irving, Texas

“It is an honor to shine a spotlight on this diverse group of leaders and innovators that are building the businesses and the economy of the future,” said Morgan Watson, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Southwest  Program Director and Assurance Partner. “These finalists have been carefully selected by our independent panel of judges for their ambition, impact and performance, and we look forward to amplifying their stories across the market.”

Regional award winners will be announced on June 24 at the Entrepreneur Of The Year Southwest awards celebration. The winners will then be considered by the National judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award in June 2024. 

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized more than 11,000 entrepreneurs throughout the US since its inception in 1986, and it has grown to recognize business leaders across 145 cities in over 60 countries around the world.

Entrepreneur Of The Year Southwest Focus

Each year, EY US showcases successful entrepreneurs from 17 regional competitions across the United States. In 2022, more than 46 entrepreneurs leading companies from the Southwest were selected as Entrepreneur Of The Year Regional Award winners.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, N.A.; SAP America; and the Kauffman Foundation. In the Southwest, sponsors also include Platinum sponsors Colliers International, Donnelly Financial Solutions and Haynes and Boone LLP, Gold sponsor Roach Howard Smith & Barton, and Silver sponsors D CEO and The Slate.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year®

Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National Overall Award winners go on to compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® title. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY Private

As Advisors to the ambitious™, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs.

About EY

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