Five Central Ohio Business Leaders Awarded Entrepreneur of the Year Honors from Ernst & Young

Five Central Ohio executives were honored Thursday evening during the annual Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year South Central Ohio and Kentucky regional awards banquet held in Cincinnati.  Award winners included Christopher Irion, CEO e-Cycle, LLC, Gary James, president, Dynalab, Inc., Cindy Moore, founder and CEO, Thirty-One Gifts and Pamela Springer, president and CEO, Manta Media, Inc.  Joe Chlapaty, chairman and CEO of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. took special honors as Master Entrepreneur for the region.

According to program organizers, this is the strongest showing to date from Central Ohio.  The region had the most number of nominations (50) and the most number of finalists (11) from among the three metros included in the South Central Ohio and Kentucky region, which encompasses Columbus, Cincinnati and Louisville/Lexington. 

Half the award winners (four out of eight) were from Central Ohio and three of these are involved in technology-driven businesses. 

“This showing is yet another indication of the growing momentum of the region’s innovation-based, entrepreneurial economy,” said Ted Ford, president and CEO of TechColumbus. “We wish each of these winners the best of luck as they go on to compete on the national level.” 

Ernst & Young annually honors entrepreneurs regionally in June.  These winners are then invited to attend the national awards gala in November in Palm Springs, CA.  From this field, the National US winner is selected to compete for the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year.  This is the 25th year for the annual competition. 

For more details, download the Entrepreneur of the Year press release.