The leaders of three Jacksonville-area companies are finalists for the Ernst & Young 2022 Entrepreneur Of The Year award for Florida and Puerto Rico.
The 24 finalists include Craig Mandeville of Forcura, Gregg Cohen and Alex Sifakis of JWB Real Estate Capital LLC and Michael Brannigan of The Suddath Companies.
All three of the businesses have been among the fastest-growing businesses on the First Coast.
Last year, JWB Real Estate Capital came in at No. 8 on the annual Fast 50 list. The company builds portfolio of rental properties, bringing in investors from across the nation.
Forcura is a technology company that focuses on the home health care and hospice sector, helping manage the flow of information between providers.
Suddath is a logistics company founded more than a century ago. In recent years, it has invested heavily in technology and acquired an international operation.
Mandaville, Cohen and Sifakis were finalists for the award in 2020. The six Florida winners that year included Joey D. Batchelor of Jacksonville-based Guardian Fueling Technologies LLC.
Last year, the nine winners of the Florida award included Jim O’Leary of The Haskell Co. and Steve Elder of iROCKER, both based in Jacksonville.
Nominees for the award are evaluated based on six criteria: entrepreneurial leadership; talent management; degree of difficulty; financial performance; societal impact and building a values-based company; and originality, innovation and future plans.
Regional award winners will be announced June 23.
