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Information: B.C. Entrepreneur of the Year

Background Entrepreneur of the Year is an annual competition administered by Ernst & Young LLP Pacific Region, with winners announced at a gala banquet in late September, and profiled in the October issue of BCBusiness magazine. The overall winner will represent the region at the national Entrepreneur of the Year banquet in Toronto in November. How to Nominate a Candidate

By BCBusiness /

Background

Entrepreneur of the Year is an annual competition administered by Ernst & Young LLP Pacific Region, with winners announced at a gala banquet in late September, and profiled in the October issue of BCBusiness magazine. The overall winner will represent the region at the national Entrepreneur of the Year banquet in Toronto in November.

How to Nominate a Candidate

Anyone can nominate a person for Entrepreneur of the Year, as long as the candidate is primarily responsible for translating an idea into a successful enterprise and is still active in a company that is at least three years old. A brochure describing the criteria and a nomination package are available at the Entrepreneur of the Year homepage.

The Process

Nomination forms are initially vetted by Ernst & Young staff to ensure paperwork is complete. Then Ernst & Young conducts on-site interviews with all eligible nominees. In three-hour interviews, candidates are grilled about everything from personal philosophy to their company’s financial performance. Interview summaries are forwarded, along with the nomination forms, to the judges, who review the applications privately before meeting as a team. Finally, the judges decide on a shortlist of three finalists in each category before deciding on a single winner.

Criteria

Judges consider the success of the business created by an entrepreneur, its treatment of its employees and its impact on the community. Key criteria include:

  1. —Vision: The ability to create a business concept and implement it effectively
  2. —Leadership: The focus and strength of character that enable the entrepreneur to move forward, and to inspire a team to do the same
  3. —Achievement: Driving business success by continually innovating in order to generate new ideas
  4. —Social Responsibility: Commitment and responsibility that aren’t confined to business, and leveraging energies and resources to give back to the community

For More Information

For further details and to nominate a candidate, visit the Entrepreneur of the Year homepage.