EY Announces Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Michigan and Northwest Ohio Award Finalists

DETROIT, May 1, 2024 – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced the finalists for the Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2024 Michigan and Northwest Ohio Award. Now in its 38th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive business award for audacious leaders who disrupt markets, revolutionize industries and have a transformational impact on lives. Over the past four decades, the program has recognized the daring entrepreneurs with big ideas and bold actions that reshape our world.

These 34 entrepreneurs from 30 companies 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.

"This year's finalists are bold entrepreneurs creating a lasting impression in their industries and communities," said Joe Lenglet, EY Partner and Entrepreneur Of The Year Michigan and Northwest Ohio program co-director.

“Selected by an independent panel of judges, these trailblazers demonstrate unwavering dedication to their companies, customers and communities. We are delighted to recognize their successes,” said Laura Trosper, EY Partner and Entrepreneur Of The Year Michigan and Northwest Ohio program co-director.

Entrepreneur Of The Year honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates 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 2024 Michigan and Northwest Ohio finalists are:

• Michael Healander | Airspace Link | Detroit, Michigan
• Shawn Crowley and Michael Marsiglia | Atomic Object | Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Anthony Chang, PhD | BAMF Health | Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Jim Simpson and Matt Warner | Blumira, Inc. | Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Jim Cooper and Gary Cooper | Cooper Farms | Oakwood, Ohio
• Bobby Hesano | D&B Grocers | Westland, Michigan
• Stephanie Burnley-Hemphill | Devon Industrial Group | Detroit, Michigan
• Kenneth Kelly | First Independence Bank | Detroit, Michigan
• Eloy Garza | Garza and Sons Labor Contractors LLC | Wyoming, Michigan
• Brian McKinney | Gayanga Co. | Detroit, Michigan
• Justin Hatfield | HECO | Kalamazoo, Michigan
• Greg Herbruck | Herbruck's Poultry Ranch | Saranac, Michigan
• Rich DiIorio | InfuSystem Holdings, Inc. | Rochester Hills, Michigan
• Nicholas A.V.D. Noecker | International Extrusions, Inc. | Garden City, Michigan
• Avinash Rachmale, PE | LGC Global, Inc. | Detroit, Michigan
• Doug Callahan | MMI Engineered Solutions, Inc. | Saline, Michigan
• Ibrahim Alhasbani | Qahwah House | Dearborn, Michigan
• Vic Mehren | Second Nature Brands | Madison Heights, Michigan
• Louis E. James | SEEL, LLC | Detroit, Michigan
• Phil Oriani | Shift Digital | Birmingham, Michigan
• Mark Kramer | SME | Plymouth, Michigan
• Steve Higginbotham | Smile America Partners | Farmington Hills, Michigan
• Vince DiPofi | SSOE Group | Toledo, Ohio
• Ashlea Souffrou | SxanPro, LLC | Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Anthony Ahee | Together Women's Health | Grosse Pointe, Michigan
• Matt Missad | UFP Industries, Inc. | Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Varchasvi Shankar | V2Soft, Inc. | Bloomfield, Michigan
• Vickie Lewis | VMX International | Detroit, Michigan
• Steve Wurth | Wurtec, Inc. | Toledo, Ohio
• Lynn Chen-Zhang and Charles Zhang | Zhang Financial | Portage, Michigan

Learn more about the finalists at ey.com/us/eoymnwo.

Regional award winners will be announced on Thursday, June 20, 2024, during a special celebration. The winners will then be considered by the National independent panel of 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.

In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network and access needed to unlock their full potential.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, Marsh USA, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In Michigan and Northwest Ohio, sponsors also include Full View Productions, KLA Laboratories Inc., P.I.E. Management LLC, and Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications.

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 80 countries and territories globally.

The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those 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 ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY

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