EY US announces winners for the Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2026 Mid-Atlantic Award

Celebrating the bold leaders shaping the future through the world’s most groundbreaking companies

WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 19, 2026 – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) proudly announces the winners of the Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2026 Mid-Atlantic Award, honoring visionary leaders of high-growth companies driving innovation, growth and prosperity for future generations. The Mid-Atlantic program celebrates entrepreneurs from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. For more than four decades, 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.

“The Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Mid-Atlantic Award winners are visionaries reshaping their industries and redefining what it means to lead as entrepreneurs,” said Steve Canaras, Entrepreneur Of The Year^® Mid-Atlantic Program Co-Director.

“Through their vision, focus and commitment to growth, they are building companies that move markets forward, create opportunities for their teams and strengthen the communities around them,” said Lisa Kelly, Entrepreneur Of The Year^® Mid-Atlantic Program Co-Director.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage, and entrepreneurial spirit. It 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 2026 Mid-Atlantic Award winners are:

• Wahid Nawabi | AV | Arlington, VA
• Nick McCarter | Chartis Federal | Leesburg, VA
• Melissa Drew | InSite BUILD |Salisbury, MD
• Mark Jacobsen | IntraFi | Arlington, VA
• David Blair | LucyRx | Bethesda, MD
• Neal Piper | Luminoah | Charlottesville, VA
• Dave Kaspary, Jr. | MidPoint Technology Group | Columbia, MD
• Daniel Coleman | Principle Choice Solutions | Woodbridge, VA
• Anthony Brusco | South Mountain Creamery | Middletown, MD
• Stephen Raeder | Summit Ridge Energy | Arlington, VA
• Craig Dixon | The St. James | Springfield, VA
• Jocelyn Gailliot | Tuckernuck | Washington, D.C.

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 National Overall Award winner will move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in May 2027.

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.

Learn more about the winners at https://www.ey.com/en_us/entrepreneur-of-the-year-us/mid-atlantic/overview

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, LLC, Marsh Risk, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In the Mid-Atlantic, sponsors also include regional platinum sponsor ADP, regional gold sponsors Cooley and DLA Piper, and regional silver sponsor Stagedge.

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 and territories 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 national overall winner represents the US at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

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