Ernst & Young's annual Entrepreneur of the Year awards program has announced its finalists and, as in years past, Minnesota has dominated the program's Heartland region.
Of 10 entrepreneurs honored from the region, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and the Dakotas, eight were from the North Star State. Those entrepreneurs are:
- Atif Siddiqi, CEO of Minneapolis-based Branch;
- Christopher Smith, CEO of Minneapolis-based Kipsu;
- Mark Fritz and Michael Hutchinson, founders of Detroit Lakes-based Lakeshirts;
- Mark Ties, CEO of Minneapolis-based Perforce Software;
- Kristen Denzer, CEO of Minneapolis-based Tierra Encantada;
- and George Hicks and Marcia Page, founders of Minneapolis-based Värde Partners.
The two other honorees were both from Missouri. Regional winners can go on to win the national Entrepreneur of the Year award, which will be presented during a virtual awards ceremony on Nov. 19.
Entrepreneur of the Year began in 1986 in the U.S., but has since become a global program. It recognizes individuals in over 145 cities and 60 countries.
Many of the honorees have been honored before, both locally and nationally. Smith, for example, was also recognized as an Entrepreneur of the Year last year. Kipsu has been featured in the past two Inc. 5000 lists of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S.
Branch, meanwhile, was named the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal's Most Promising Startup of 2017 and, with 61 employees, is one of the Twin Cities' larger private tech firms.
Ties was named the Business Journal's CFO of the Year when he worked for HelpSystems, while Page was named to the Minnesota Woman Business Owners Hall of Fame in 2016.
“It is an honor to be recognized alongside so many successful entrepreneurs," Hicks and Page said in a joint statement. "We are incredibly grateful for the support of our families, the talented partners and employees who have joined us along the way, and to our investors for trusting us to help them achieve their important missions."
