Entrepreneurship, at its very core, is about success. It’s about
people who take a risk on an idea for a product or service, then see it
through to completion, no matter how long it takes or how much effort it
requires.
The winners of the 12th annual Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year
awards will be announced at a June 22 banquet in Cleveland. They will
represent some of the fastest growing companies in Northeast Ohio.
Last year, they included Arthur Holmes, chairman and CEO of Chart
Industries Inc.; John Haag, chairman and CEO of SGS Tool; Dale Lauren
Foland, founder of Lauren International Inc.; Louis Perry, president of
Louis Perry & Associates; Barry Phillips, CEO of Gradall Industries;
and Karen and Kenneth Conley and Annette and Nicholas Canitano, founders of
Conley Canitano & Associates Inc.
To say that these entrepreneurs have been busy in the past year would be an
understatement. For them, there is resting on past success.
Since their recognition in July 1998, several have seen major changes in
their businesses. Three of last year’s winners — Joseph Dreher,
CEO of Dreher Business Products, Raymond Zukowski, chairman and CEO of
Euclid Industries Inc. and Michael and Dan Krause, co-founders of Exchange
Network Services — have sold their companies. Inc. magazine
recently named the business of another winner, Carol Latham, president and
CEO of Thermagon Inc., one of the 100 fastest growing inner city
businesses.
So who will be in the 1999 Entrepreneur of The Year class? Find out next
month in SBN.
