EXCLUSIVE REPORTS
May 25, 2001

Area business owners top the list for Entrepreneur Of The Year titles

Kansas City-area businesses dominated the list of regional finalists for the 2001 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program. Counting a manufacturer in Leavenworth, area companies claimed 20 of 23 spots for the area covering Kansas and Western Missouri.

The Entrepreneur of the Year program honors business owners in a variety of categories. Winners of the regional awards will be announced June 28 in Kansas City. Regional winners go on to compete for national awards to be given this November in Palm Springs, Calif.

The regional finalists are:

  • Jo Anne Gabbert of Adams-Gabbert & Associates in Lee's Summit
  • Douglas Albers of Albers Medical Inc. in Kansas City
  • Mary Sullivan of Kansas City-based Amino Bros. Co. Inc.
  • Rebecca MacKinnon of BeyondNow Technologies in Overland Park
  • Martha Gershun of BizSpace Inc. in Kansas City
  • Ed Rolfs of Central of Kansas Inc. in Junction City, Kan.
  • Gabriel Murphy of Kansas City-based CommuniTech.Net Inc.
  • Jim Denning of Independence-based Discover Vision Centers
  • William Dunn Sr., William Dunn Jr., Terrence Dunn, Stephen Dunn, Kevin Dunn and Robert Dunn of Dunn Industries in Kansas City
  • Michael Brown of Leawood-based Euronet Worldwide
  • Joy Wheeler of FirstGuard Health Plan in Kansas City
  • Gary Fish of FishNet Consulting d/b/a FishNet Security in Kansas City
  • Cyndee Pollock of Wichita-based Greenbrier Basket

Missouri-Kansas winners will be eligible for consideration for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2004 national program. Winners in several national categories, as well as the overall national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, will be announced at the annual awards gala in November in Palm Springs, Calif.

Sponsors of the Missouri-Kansas awards include the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP of Kansas City, The Business Journal of Kansas City, the St. Louis Business Journal