About Entrepreneur Of The Year
Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 60 countries globally.
This program honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. We celebrate original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.
The Southwest program includes North Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Wichita, Kansas. Each year, a panel of independent judges selects regional finalists and winners who are recognized during an awards celebration in June. The regional winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November, where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year competition.
Visit the Entrepreneur Of The Year Hall of Fame to search our directory of past award winners.
Program information
2023 regional finalists are building the economy of tomorrow
*Over the most recent three-year period
2023 regional celebration highlights
Entrepreneur Of The Year Southwest region team
Morgan Watson
Program director
Rex Alexander
Program director
Kristi Poteet
Program director
Eva Heron
Program director
Mary Cheatham
Program Manager
Stephanie Sabo
Program Coordinator
Founded and produced by
Presented by
Regionally sponsored by
Gold sponsors
Strategic Growth Forum® US
Each year, we celebrate the Entrepreneur Of The Year regional award winners at the Strategic Growth Forum, where national award winners are announced.
EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ North America
Identifying ambitious women entrepreneurs and provides them with the advice, resources and access they need to unlock their full potential.
EY Entrepreneurs Access Network
A business accelerating program for Black and Latino founders, designed to scale their businesses by equalizing access to resources, connections and capital.
