Nominations are open for EY’s annual Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards. Now in its 31^st year, it is widely considered as one of the most prestigious business award programs in the U.S. and remains one of the preeminent competitive awards program in the world for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies.

In 2016, three Southeast award recipients received national Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards, and were recognized among companies such as Blue Apron, Fitbit and Marriott International.  They were:

Distribution and Manufacturing

Vernon Nagel – Chairman, President and CEO, Acuity Brands, Inc., Atlanta

Financial Services

David Zalik – CEO, GreenSky, LLC, Atlanta

Media, Entertainment and Communications

Ben Chestnut – Co-founder and CEO, MailChimp, Atlanta

The program has a firm application deadline of March 10, 2017, with the Southeast awards ceremony scheduled for June 8, 2017 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia. To nominate a candidate, please visit the secure application site here.

“The driving force behind our program is the caliber of entrepreneurs, and the 30^th year of the Entrepreneur Of The Year program proved to be a huge success for our award recipients,” said Brad Duncan, Southeast Entrepreneur Of The Year Program Director.  “We look forward to continuing that momentum and identifying another outstanding class of entrepreneurs for 2017.”

Award recipients are selected in a number of industry categories by a panel of independent regional judges, including previous award recipients, leading CEOs and private capital investors and other regional business leaders. Entrepreneurs may nominate themselves or be nominated by peers and other business leaders.

Entrepreneurs eligible for consideration include not only company founders, but also leaders of multi-generation family businesses and transformational public and private company CEOs. Additionally, the nominee’s company must be at least two years old.  Self-nominations are encouraged, and there is no fee. For information on the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in Florida, please visit www.ey.com/us/southeast_eoy.

In 2016, Southeast award recipients were:

Lifetime Achievement

Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum – Chairman & CEO, Mohawk Industries, Inc.

Distribution and Manufacturing

Vernon J. Nagel – Acuity Brands, Inc., Atlanta, GA

Financial Services

David Zalik – GreenSky, Atlanta, GA

Health Care

Christopher A. Holden – AMSURG, Nashville, TN

Health Care Services

Robert A. Frist, Jr. – HealthStream, Nashville, TN

Media and Communications

Ben Chestnut – MailChimp, Atlanta, GA

Real Estate and Construction

Duane LeGate – Commissions, Inc., Marietta, GA

Retail and Consumer Products

Paul Brown – Arby’s Restaurants Group, Inc., Atlanta, GA

Services

David North – Sedgwick, Memphis, TN

Social Responsibility

Mark Claypool – ChanceLight Behavioral Health, Therapy & Education, Nashville, TN

Technology

James M. Whitehurst – Red Hat, Raleigh, NC