Ernst & Young celebrates Prairies finalists for Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010
Firm recognizes high-achieving entrepreneurs who make a difference in the global economy
CALGARY, July 6 /CNW/ - Canada's most successful entrepreneurs improve the quality of life for people across the globe, Ernst & Young said today as the firm announced the finalists for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2010 Awards.
"This year's Prairies finalists have transformed innovative ideas into viable, sustainable enterprises, created jobs and built thriving communities," says David Boomer, Director of Entrepreneur Of The Year for the Prairies region. "By showing tremendous focus and strength of character, these leaders have successfully taken their businesses to the next level."
According to a recent Ernst & Young publication, A world of opportunity: Entrepreneurial perspectives on the impact of globalization, entrepreneurs have been quick to seize opportunities presented by the opening of new markets.
"There are endless growth possibilities for businesses that are creative, nimble and dynamic," notes Boomer. "A single, ground-breaking idea can transform companies - local or international, large or small, established or relatively new - into market leaders that create jobs, enhance our living standards and influence businesses throughout the world."
However, companies may also encounter a new generation of rivals from both local and international markets in the new economy. In another recent report, Ambitious, adept and agile, Ernst & Young finds that just over two-thirds of entrepreneurs surveyed agree that globalization has opened the door to new and unforeseen competitors.
"Entrepreneurs will need to increase their levels of innovation in order to get ahead and grow their businesses in this new environment," says Boomer. "This can ultimately lead to better products and services that benefit consumers, communities and economies locally and throughout the world."
Entrepreneur Of The Year recognizes high-achieving entrepreneurs in Canada and around the world who drive growth, build communities and transform industries. The Canadian program is in its 17th year of honouring the country's most impressive entrepreneurs from all areas of business.
The names of the Prairies winners will be announced at a gala banquet in Calgary on October 14, and the overall Prairies winner will represent the region at the national banquet in Toronto on November 17. For ticket information regarding the regional and national banquets, please contact Kristy Gray at 403 206 5476.
The 2010 Prairies finalists for Entrepreneur Of The Year:
Business-to-business products and services
Ken Sontag
Norscan Instruments Ltd. | Winnipeg, Manitoba
norscan.com
Norscan provides electronic monitoring and locating system solutions for telecommunication and broadband service providers, in addition to private network owners.
James Blackman, Tammy Charland-McLaughlin
Primco Dene Group of Companies | Cold Lake, Alberta
primcodene.com
Primco Dene Group of Companies consists of four operating limited partnerships that provide a variety of services to companies in the oilfield sector.
John MacInnes
Print Audit | Calgary, Alberta
printaudit.com
Print Audit enables organizations worldwide to significantly lower the cost and environmental impact of printing and photocopying. Since 1999, it has helped its customers recapture over $150 million in printing and photocopying expenses while saving an estimated 190,000 trees a year.
Business-to-consumer products and services
Betty Anne Latrace Henderson
Deer Lodge Hotels | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
airlinehotels.ca
Deer Lodge Hotels is a leading, mid-market sustainable, second-generation, full-service hospitality company, guided at all times by ethics and values.
Louise Dirks
Gravitypope Company Ltd. | Edmonton, Alberta
gravitypope.com
Gravitypope is a Western Canadian retail chain that offers unique and extensive collections of footwear and quality European and North American designer clothing and accessories.
Neil Campbell, Damien Cheng, Brian McIntosh
Landmark Cinemas of Canada Inc. | Calgary, Alberta
landmarkcinemas.ca
Landmark Cinemas is the third-largest cinema chain in Canada. It is strategically located in Western Canada (Manitoba to British Columbia and the Yukon).
Dennine Giles, Martin Giles
North Star Ford Sales Limited | Fort McMurray, Alberta
northstarford.ca/ou/fort-mcmurray-ford-lincoln
North Star Ford Sales Limited is the only Ford dealership in Canada that has a 24-hour service department and enjoys the highest market share in Fort McMurray.
Cleantech
Mark Montemurro
Alter NRG Corp. | Calgary, Alberta
alternrg.ca
Alter NRG's vision is to commercialize growth technologies through environmentally sustainable and economically viable alternative-energy projects to enable consumers to reduce their carbon footprint and decrease the costs and volatility of energy bills using energy from the earth.
Gary Michalchuk
E.I.L. Environmental Services | Edmonton, Alberta
eilenvironmental.com
E.I.L. has been providing hazardous waste management services to waste generators across Western Canada since 1991, including used-oil recovery and recycling services.
Dan Balaban
Greengate Power Corporation | Calgary, Alberta
greengatepower.com
Greengate is focused on developing quality wind energy projects in Alberta in areas with available transmission capacity. Its projects under development are in geographically diverse, transmission-rich areas of Alberta with strong wind resources.
Audrey Mascarenhas
Questor Technology Inc. | Calgary, Alberta
questortech.com
Questor is an international environmental oilfield service company focused on clean-air technologies, with activities in Canada, the US, Europe and Asia.
Energy - external equity funded
Craig Nieboer, Tom Simons, Ken Zandee, Ken Zinger
Canadian Energy Services & Technology Corp. | Calgary, Alberta
canadianenergyservices.ca
Canadian Energy Services & Technology is a leading independent provider of drilling fluid and environmental solutions to complex drilling and oil and gas exploration activities throughout North America.
Daniel Klemke
KMC Mining Corporation | Edmonton, Alberta
kmcmining.com
KMC provides major producers in the Alberta oilsands with heavy earth- moving equipment and mining expertise. Its services include site preparation, dyke and haul-road construction, overburden removal, land reclamation and ore hauling.
David Johnson
Progress Energy Resources Corp. | Calgary, Alberta
progressenergy.com
Progress Energy Resources is a natural gas exploration and production company with operations in northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia.
Ken Travis
Strata Energy Services Inc. | Red Deer, Alberta
strataenergy.net
Strata is a premium supplier of high-tech oilfield equipment and services, helping its clients maximize their assets' values economically and safely.
Lee Whittaker
United Safety Ltd. | Airdrie, Alberta
unitedsafety.ca
United Safety rents industrial safety equipment and provides safety preparedness, supervisory and technical services to the industrial and oil and gas sectors.
Energy - private
Robert MacCuish
Eagle Drilling Services | Carlyle, Saskatchewan
eagledrillingservices.ca
Eagle Drilling Services is one of the most efficient and respected contract drillers in the business. With a fleet of Canadian-made drilling platforms, they provide a level of service unparalleled in the industry.
Douglas Quinn
Quinn's Oilfield Supply Ltd. | Red Deer, Alberta
quinnpumps.com
Quinn's Oilfield Supply provides service and distribution of reciprocation and progressing cavity pumps to the oil and gas community, through innovative manufacturing engineering and product development.
Dale Unruh
Unruh Group of Companies | Fort McMurray, Alberta
qualityes.ca
The Unruh Group of Companies collectively refers to the Quality Group of Companies, Enhanced Communication Solutions Inc. and the Go Group of Companies. The Group provides electrical and instrumentation contracting, power-line construction and maintenance, electric motor sales and services, and dewatering services.
Manufacturing
Nils Bodtker
GWC Services Ltd. | Calgary, Alberta
gwcontainers.com
GWC Services manufactures, reconditions and distributes a diverse collection of industrial packaging solutions across Canada, and blends, packages and distributes oil, lube and chemical products.
Gabe Coscarella
Mainline Backflow Products | Edmonton, Alberta
backwatervalve.com
Mainline Backflow Products works with all levels of government in Canada and the United States in a dedicated effort to prevent flooding caused by sewer backups.
John Leder
Supreme Group Inc. | Edmonton, Alberta
supremegroup.ca
The Supreme Group offers a wide range of steel fabrication, erection, mechanical and construction services. It was started in 1972 under its current ownership and, through the process of acquisition, can claim a continuity that goes back more than a century.
Professional/financial services
Tracy Graf, Troy Graf
Carfinco Income Fund | Edmonton, Alberta
carfinco.com
Carfinco provides consumer vehicle loans to borrowers unable to obtain financing through traditional lending sources. Automotive dealerships offer Carfinco's payment plan to their customers.
Mike Pyle
Exchange Income Corporation | Winnipeg, Manitoba
exchangeincomecorp.ca
Exchange Income Corporation was created to invest in profitable, well- established companies with strong cash flows operating in niche markets in Canada and the United States, and to distribute stable monthly cash dividends to its shareholders.
Bill Graham, Lance Kadatz
RIFCO Inc. | Red Deer, Alberta
rifco.net
RIFCO provides non-traditional auto loans through a growing network of new and used vehicle dealers operating across Canada.
Real estate/construction
Bill Haun
Crossroads C&I | Edmonton, Alberta
crossroadsci.com
Crossroads C&I is a commercial and industrial distributor of mechanical insulation products and accessories for new construction and maintenance in Alberta, BC, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
William Elkington
JV Driver Group | Leduc, Alberta
jvdriver.com
JV Driver is a competitive, results-oriented industrial contractor that has successfully completed major projects in the oil and gas, petrochemical, mining and forestry products sectors.
Radhe Gupta
Rohit Group of Companies | Edmonton, Alberta
rohitgroup.com
Rohit Group provides residential and commercial real estate construction and development.
Technology
Randy Mardens
Cleankeys Inc. | Edmonton, Alberta
cleankeysinc.com
Cleankeys has leveraged its technical expertise with text input to expand into the field of hygienic computing, and to develop a cleanable keyboard called Cleankeys.
Dale Lemke
Display Systems International, Inc. | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
displaysystemsintl.com
DSI develops and sells video messaging software, which is used for real estate and car trader channels, local news and TV listings channels.
Michael Legary
Seccuris Inc. | Winnipeg, Manitoba
seccuris.com
Seccuris is Canada's premier information assurance integrator, providing its customers with an end-to-end strategy for managing enterprise information risk, as well as the capabilities to design, implement and manage programs, architectures and solutions on an ongoing basis.
John O'Rourke
SIGIT Automation Inc. | Calgary, Alberta
sigitautomation.com
SIGIT Automation's prime objective is providing fit-for-purpose solutions for clients. They serve a diverse range of industries, including oil and gas, forestry, pipeline, manufacturing, mining and mineral processing, food and beverage, and utilities and municipal projects.
Special recognition
Marty Donkervoort
Inner City Development Inc. | Winnipeg, Manitoba
icdevelopment.ca
Inner City Development is a general contractor (operating as a social enterprise with multiple bottom lines) in the construction sector, providing renovation and new construction services in both residential and commercial markets.
The Prairies regional judges:
Zinat Damji, President and CEO
Alliance Trust Company
Jack Donald, President and CEO
Parkland Properties Ltd.
John Ferguson, Chairman of the Board
Princeton Ventures Ltd.
Barb Gamey, President
Payworks Inc.
Kevin Wolfe, President
Richmond Equity Management Ltd.
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year is sponsored nationally by Global TV, National Post, La Presse and RDI. Prairies region program sponsors are the Calgary Herald and Business in Calgary. The table patron is Conroy Ross.
About Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 144,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.
For more information, please visit ey.com/ca.
Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.
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