EY US announces winners for the Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2025 Gulf South Award

Celebrating the bold leaders shaping the future through the world’s most ground-breaking companies

Houston, Texas – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) proudly announces the winners of the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 Gulf South Award, honoring visionary leaders of high-growth companies driving innovation, growth and prosperity for future generations. The Gulf South program celebrates entrepreneurs from Central and South Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. For 40 years, EY US has celebrated ambitious entrepreneurs who are transforming industries, impacting communities and creating long-term value.

Regional winners were selected by an independent panel of past winners, top CEOs and business leaders. Judges evaluated candidates on long-term value creation, entrepreneurial spirit, purpose-driven commitment, and significant growth and impact.

Entrepreneur Of The Year honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates 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 strengthen it for the future.

“The Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 Gulf South Award winners are trailblazers who redefine excellence and set new benchmarks in their industries,” says Travis Garms, Partner and Entrepreneur Of The Year Gulf South Program Co-Director.

“They set the standard for scaling businesses while prioritizing their employees, customers and communities,” says Anna Horndahl, Partner, Americas Entrepreneur Of The Year® Deputy Director and Entrepreneur Of The Year Gulf South Program Co-Director.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 Gulf South Award winners are:

• Donnie Carr | Christian Brothers Automotive | Houston
• Neha Sampat | Contentstack Inc. | Austin
• Hala Ballouz, PE | Electric Power Engineers, LLC | Austin
• Jonathan Swerdlin | Function Health | Austin
• Michael Howard | Howard Industries | Laurel, Ms.
• Gabriel Rio | Milestone Environmental Services, LLC | Houston
• Rod Larson | Oceaneering International, Inc. | Houston
• Tom Dorsett and Dr. Siva Mohan | RazorMetrics | Austin
• Juan Moreno | STGen | Navasota
• Dave Sisk | Streamline Innovations | San Antonio
• Jeff Bezner, Will Bradley, Reagan Fincher and Jonathan McKenzie | Turtlebox Audio, LLC | Houston
• Nathan Ough | VoltaGrid | Houston
• Anthony Bahr | WildFire Energy LLC | Houston

Learn more about the winners at ey.com/en_us/entrepreneur-of-the-year-us/regional-programs

These regional award winners will now move on to be considered for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, set to be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum^®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then represent the US as they compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in May 2026.

Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners become lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs. They receive exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of program alumni and other ecosystem members in more than 60 countries — all supported by vast EY resources.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, Marsh McLennan Agency, and SAP. In the Gulf South, sponsors also include Platinum sponsors ADP, DFIN, DLA Piper and vcfo and Silver sponsors Big Picture and Pierpont Communications.

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.

The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those 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 EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY

EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

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All in to shape the future with confidence.

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