41 North Texans Named Among EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Southwest Award Finalists

Now in its 41st year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program “celebrates the bold leaders who disrupt markets through the world’s most ground-breaking companies, revolutionizing industries and making a profound impact on communities,” EY said. Here's who made this year's Southwest finalists list.

Ernst & Young has announced the finalists for its Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Southwest Award—and 41 market-disrupting “bold leaders” in North Texas made the list.

Now in its 41st year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program “celebrates the bold leaders who disrupt markets through the world’s most ground-breaking companies, revolutionizing industries and making a profound impact on communities,” EY said, adding, “The program honors entrepreneurs whose innovations drive economic growth and help shape the future of business.”

An independent panel of judges selected a total of 44 finalists representing 41 companies in the Southwest region based on their entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, company growth, and lasting impact in building long-term value. Beyond the 41 finalists from North Texas, three were also selected from Rogers, Arkansas; Oklahoma City; and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

‘Making a lasting mark’

Trey Slinkard, partner and Entrepreneur Of The Year Southwest program co-director, said the 2026 finalists “are bold entrepreneurs making a lasting mark on their industries and communities across the Southwest region.”

“Chosen by an independent panel of judges, their companies are creating jobs, accelerating innovation and strengthening the regional business community,” he added in a statement. “We’re thrilled to celebrate their success.”

EY said the awards program honors many different types of business leaders for their “ingenuity, courage, and entrepreneurial spirit.” Among the entrepreneurs EY celebrates are 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 2026 Southwest finalists are:

Nate Ungarean, AIM Recycling, Dallas
John Albers, Albers Aerospace, McKinney
Will Coleman, Alto, Dallas
Jeff Foland, Atlantic Aviation, Plano
Jason Boso, Brain Storm Shelter Restaurants, Dallas
Horatio Lonsdale-Hands, Buda Juice Inc., Dallas
Romy Cheema and Sam Cheema, CanTex Capital, Dallas
Cindy Knoll, Compass Electrical Solutions LLC, Plano
Ezra Kuenzi, Connect Pediatrics, Dallas
Mike Hernandez, D&M Auto Leasing, Fort Worth
Sean Dalfen, Dalfen Industrial LLC, Dallas
David Hassinger, Direct Orthopedic Care, Plano
Dr. Bharat Sangani, Encore Enterprises Inc., Dallas
Gabriel Griess, Excel Medical Staffing, Grapevine
Ross Cully, Harvest Group, Rogers, Arkansas
Trey Rome, Home Tax Solutions, Dallas
Dru Riess, ILS Gummies LLC, McKinney
Eric Fortenberry, JobTread Software, Dallas
Jeff Ragan, KiZE Concepts Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Francois Reihani, La La Land, Dallas
Heath Hill, Lime Media Group, Rockwall
Tom Mahlke, Mid-States Distributing, Fort Worth
Ethan Ellenberg, Moonshot, Denton
Beverly Coghlan, Neighborhood Management Inc., Allen
Sargon Daniel, Nexus Renewable Power LLC, Plano
Alexander Kunz, OP2 Labs, Fort Worth
Dr. Tu Dao, OrthoMed Staffing, Addison
Margaret Rogers, Pariveda, Dallas
Kim Kelley, Pepelwerk, Irving
Raleigh Taylor, Premier Protective Security, Irving
Matt Elsley and Nick Larkins, QSIC, Dallas
Jimmy Shoppa, Shoppa’s Material Handling, Fort Worth
Rick Kimbrell, StartKleen, Gunter
Kyle Al-Rifai, Swift Collision, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Tyler Glover, Texas Pacific Land Corp., Dallas
Biran Rutt, The Emblem Source, Addison
Brandon Pogue and Jennifer Pogue, TruLabs, McKinney
Anup Tamrakar, Urban Infraconstruction, Dallas
Scott Wise, MD, MBA, Valor Healthcare Inc., Dallas
Imamu “Mu” Tomlinson, MD, MBA, Vituity, Irving
Jordan Miller, Yendo, Dallas