Judging entrepreneurship

Entrepreneur Of The Year judges faced difficult choices There’s little doubt that judging any competition is challenging. But when the task is to determine Northeast Ohio’s top entrepreneurs, the job is that much harder.

On May 15, after days of poring over this year’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year nomination forms, the judges met with each of the 26 finalists for an in-depth interview. The following day, the judges convened and determined this year’s category winners.

Here are the five judges to whom this difficult task fell.

Ivan Winfield, executive-in-residence, Baldwin-Wallace College, returning judge from 2002 competition

Ralph M. Della Ratta Jr., senior managing director and manager, M&A Group, McDonald Investments, returning judge from 1997 and 1998 competitions

James B. Cole, CEO, NOSHOK Inc., 2002 Entrepreneur Of The Year Award recipient

Dr. Raj Aggarwal, Ph.D, Firestone Chair of Corporate Finance, Kent State University, first-time judge

Scott R. Wilson, partner, Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP, first-time judge How to reach: Ernst & Young, www.ey.com