Search is underway for Galway’s entrepreneurs

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year – now in its twentieth year – has officially opened for nominations.

The theme of this year’s programme is “Leading through Change” and all sectors and businesses of all sizes are invited to submit their nominations up until the 22 February. The 24 finalists for 2017 will be announced on April 27.

The programme is open to entrepreneurs across all sectors and growth stages, across the island of Ireland. The awards programme is divided into three categories – Emerging, Industry and International – with eight finalists chosen per category.

The 24 finalists will be selected by an independent panel of judges, comprised of former EOY winners and chaired by Anne Heraty of CPL Resources plc.

Individuals who wish to put themselves forward or nominate an entrepreneur with their consent, can fill out the online nomination form at www.eoy.ie or call the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year team for further information on 01 221 2250.  The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, February 22.

Last year saw a strong mix of male and female finalists across eight different sectors who collectively employed over 3,000 people and generated revenues in excess of half a billion euro in 2016.

Brendan Mooney, CEO of Kainos Group plc emerged as the overall winner at the 2016 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards and will go on to represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in Monte Carlo in June.

Property development and investment company Green Property took top prize in the Industry category, while media monitoring company NewsWhip won top prize in the Emerging category.

The finalists will engage in a strategic growth programme over a ten month period which includes a week-long CEO Retreat to San Francisco.

As part of this international retreat, this year’s 24 finalists will join a group of over 120 entrepreneurs, all previous finalists and winners of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme where they will meet CEOs and entrepreneurs from some of the world’s biggest multinational companies.

Entrepreneurs will also gain exclusive access to a prestigious community of over 450 peers known as the EOY Alumni. To date, 55% of our EOY community have conducted business with one another – demonstrating the advantage of being part of this supportive and prolific professional network.