THE ERNST Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, now in its 15th year, aims to recognise and acclaim Ireland’s entrepreneurs. The award is run in association with The Irish Times, RTÉ, Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and Newstalk. Eight companies have been chosen in each of the three categories: International, Industry and Emerging.

Four nominees will be profiled each Monday over the next six weeks. A nominee must be a business founder or owner, and be primarily responsible for the recent performance of a company that is at least two years old.

Founders of public companies are eligible, provided the founder is still active in top management. The nominee must own 5 per cent of the company to be eligible.

Anyone – including employees, company advisers and financiers – can nominate an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs may nominate themselves or their peers.

The judges are people in business who have achieved success in their own right. Thus, all nominees are judged by their peers. Judging criteria include growth in turnover and employee numbers, as well as vision, degree of innovation, creativity in production, marketing and selling, and expansion in local and international markets.

This year’s chosen finalists will join the Irish programme’s extended entrepreneurial community at the annual Entrepreneur of the Year CEO Retreat in June. This week-long event takes place at Silicon Valley, California, where participants will be given the chance to develop their entrepreneurial skills, increase their business network, share commercial experiences with local entrepreneurs, take master classes given by professors from Stanford and Berkeley Universities and develop lifelong peer relationships with others in the Entrepreneur of the Year community.

The chairman of the judging panel is Padraig O Céidigh. The winner will be announced at a televised awards ceremony in October.