Meet the Entrepreneurs of the Year
The Oscars for business. That’s how Selim Bassoul, president and CEO of food-service
equipment maker Middleby describes Ernst & Young’s annual Entrepreneur of the Year Award program, a multimillion-dollar extravaganza designed to recognize stand-out business leaders regionally, nationally, and internationally. A winner in the distribution and manufacturing industry category in 2004, Lebanese-born Bassoul was asked to serve as a judge the following year and has been doing so ever since. He points out that the program doesn’t limit 
the definition of entrepreneur to founders. Any active owner or manager primarily responsible for a private or public company’s recent performance who applies will be considered, with growth and profitability in mind. Bassoul say the recession didn’t diminish the quantity or quality of this year’s applications, which amounted to more 1,500 entrepreneurs. Read full story:
