Entrepreneur Of The Year® Florida

Honoring the ambitious entrepreneurs who are shaping the future.

Nominations for 2026 Entrepreneur Of The Year® are now open. Nominate or apply by February 27, 2026.

Nominate or apply

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 60 countries globally.

This program honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. We celebrate original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.

The Florida program includes Florida and Puerto Rico. Each year, a panel of independent judges selects regional finalists and winners who are recognized during an awards celebration in June. The regional winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November, where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year competition.

Visit the Entrepreneur Of The Year Hall of Fame to search our directory of past award winners.

Meet the 2025 Florida winners

Meet the winners

Program information

Build valuable relationships with entrepreneurs who are leading successful businesses across a variety of industries.
Increase exposure to potential customers, suppliers and investors.
Recognize your company’s success within the local business community and celebrate your team.
Gain access to exclusive peer-to-peer learning and networking experiences.
Connect with EY subject-matter resources for guidance on fostering long-term value creation.
The entrepreneur

The entrepreneur must be the CEO or president of a private or public company who is primarily responsible for the recent performance of the company.
The entrepreneur may be the original founder, a multigenerational family business leader, or a transformational CEO of a company or subsidiary who is not the founder.
The entrepreneur must have been in the role for at least two years by the application deadline.
Previous eligible finalists and applicants who did not win are eligible to reapply.
Former award winners may reapply if they have founded or transitioned to a new company.

The company

Companies must have been in business for at least two years to be eligible.
Companies are most competitive when they demonstrate long-term value and has a strong growth rate and growth plans.
Only for-profit businesses may apply.
Companies must have a minimum revenue of $10M*.
* Revenue exceptions include companies in the Life Sciences sector and emerging companies that are less than five years old.

Judging criteria

The independent panel of judges evaluates nominees on a variety of criteria, including, but not limited to:

Entrepreneurial spirit
Purpose
Growth
Impact
Financial performance
The 2026 program dates are:

December 1, 2025: Applications open
February 27: Application deadline
March–April: Regional nominee interviews with EY team and select sponsors
April 21: Regional finalists announced
May 13–May 14: Regional finalist interviews with judges
June 12: Regional awards celebration
Early fall: Regional alumni receptions
November 16-19, 2026: Strategic Growth Forum, including the National awards celebration

2025 regional finalists are building the economy of tomorrow

*Over the most recent three-year period

Learn more

EOY 2025 national overall award winners

Meet the Entrepreneur Of The Year^®2025 National winners and finalists

Entrepreneur Of The Year Florida team

Jennifer Williams
Program Director

Monica Frank
Program Director

Pam Lewis
Program Manager

Alexis Levy
Program Coordinator

Jhez Ferriol
Program Coordinator

Entrepreneurs Accelerated

Fast-forward growth through knowledge, connections and support. Hone your competitive edge at every stage of your company’s growth — so you can dream bigger, scale faster and achieve more.

Learn more

Founded and produced by

Presented by

Marsh

Regionally sponsored by

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the 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.