On a blue pixelated gradient background, white trophy silhouettes flank the bold white centered text “Entrepreneur of the Year.”

Nomination Information

Established to recognize and honor entrepreneurs in the small and medium business sector. This award recognizes individuals who are imaginative, passionate, and exemplify excellence with the aim to inspire others to create and innovate entrepreneurial business ventures.

Nominees should have three or more years as an entrepreneurial leader to be considered for this honor.

Focusing on the contribution of a dynamic, creative and visionary leader, this Award recognizes an individual who has achieved sustained levels of growth and strong financial performance through a culture of innovation, resilience and demonstrates a culture of inspiring others through their leadership style. Nominees should be included in the process and share their leadership philosophies and history of learning.

Open to individuals operating in the public, private or non-profit sectors, this Award will go to the outstanding individual who can best demonstrate the following:

  • Exceptional inspirational and visionary leadership,
  • Identification of a market opportunity,
  • How employees and resources were applied to optimize the opportunity,
  • Strong commercial performance, financial results and demonstrated growth,
  • Demonstration of the creation of real shareholder value,
  • Potential and plan for sustained growth,
  • Innovation in products, services or processes,
  • Community engagement and customer loyalty, and
  • Outstanding ethical approaches to business and operations.

Nomination Summary

In a summary of no more than 750 words, please identify the entrepreneurial venture and the market in which the business operates. Please include the venture’s key business achievements or success factors that are relevant to the industry or marketplace.

Nomination Details

In no more than 1500 words, please tell our awards committee why the nominee should be named the Entrepreneur of the Year. Nominations are primarily evaluated by the criteria listed below. In an effort to maximize the chances of a successful nomination, please make sure to tailor your response to connect to as many of the identified criteria as possible. Our committee understands that no two ventures are the same and a successful nomination will not necessarily contain all of the criteria identified.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP GROWTH & SUSTAINABILITY • Share examples of how your venture has increased your customer base over the past three (3) years and the impact that venture has had on your operations. • Provide examples of your employee engagement and how you train, develop, and support your staff to create growth. • Present evidence of how your stakeholders (external and internal) have been motivated to engage with your venture. • Share how the nominee has implemented corporate responsibility or sustainability practices within the business venture. • How does the nominee’s venture ensure alignment with and protect community interests. • Define the nominees approach to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. • Provide examples of how the nominee has developed, introduced, or implemented innovations to create a positive culture in their venture. • Share how the nominee has developed measures for assessing and improving the impact of the venture on stakeholders (external and internal). • Show us examples of the leadership and management structure of the venture and explain how that structure creates a positive culture in the workplace. • Provide a personal story about the nominee and how they seek to inspire others within the community as a whole • Describe your plan for sustaining the venture and continuing financial success. • Share how you benchmark against your peers in financial terms. • Provide some evidence of financial growth and expansion of the venture over the past three years. • Describe how the venture evaluates market opportunities and how the nominee measures success in new expansions