Twenty-four companies have been shortlisted across three categories for the 2014 EY Entrepreneur of the Year award.
The finalists were selected by a judging panel of previous winners including Digicel owner Denis O’Brien, Dairymaster chief executive Edmond Harty, Taxback.com founder Terry Clune, Anne Heraty of listed recruitment company CPL and Liam Casey of outsourcing manufacturer PCH.
Representing the full spectrum of industries, the 24 finalists employ 6,000 people and generate annual revenues of €628 million.
'Accelerate ambition'
"Ireland's business owners were particularly hard-hit by the economic downturn and now is the time to accelerate their ambition and focus their sights on the global opportunities that lie ahead," Frank O'Keeffe, partner-in-charge of the Entrepreneur of the Year programme, said.
“Through the support of the programme, our aim is to help our 24 finalists continue to grow robust businesses, stimulate job creation and stay ahead of the curve well into the future.”
The finalists will join a group of 110 entrepreneurs, all previous finalists and winners of the programme, for a week-long chief executive retreat in Seattle and Vancouver at the end of May. The retreat will include executive education at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and University of Washington in Seattle, both of which are ranked in the Top 30 universities in the world.
The overall winner of the 2014 EY Entrepreneur of the Year award – and the three category winners – will be announced on October 23rd.
The winner will then go on to participate in the World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Monte Carlo next year.
The finalists in the emerging category are: Bill Walsh of Aspire Technology; Tony Judge of Clubs to Hire; Terry Fox of Cupprint; Oisin Hanrahan of Handybook; Sean Mitchell and David Moloney of Movidius; Andrew Murphy of Sláinte Healthcare; Brendan O’Driscoll and Aidan Sliney of Soundwave; and Pat Phelan of Trustev.
The finalists in the international category are: Brian Comer and Luke Comer of Comer Group; Stuart Dobson of Elmgrove Foods; Brian Crowley of TTM Group; Mark Roden of Ding; Dermot Smurfit of Game Account Network; George Mullan of SIS Group; Gabriel Moynagh of Sysnet Global Solutions; and Mike Stack of Tricel.
The finalists in the industry category are: Pat McCann of Dalata Hotel Group; John Purdy of Ergo; Vincent Cleary, Gerard Cleary,Brian Cleary and Mark Cleary of Glenisk; Ian Haldane of Haldane Shiells Group; Michael Hall and Lorraine Hall of Kestrel Foods; Gregory O’Gorman and Marian O’Gorman of Kilkenny Group; Mark Hutchinson of Hutchinson Engineering; and Ian Wilson of Wilsons Auctions.
