Ernst & Young has announced the finalists for its Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 Southwest Award—and 45 “bold leaders” in North Texas made the list.

Now in its 40th 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 shape the future and pave the way for a thriving economy and a hopeful tomorrow.”

“This year’s finalists are bold entrepreneurs making a lasting impact in their industries and communities,” Rex Alexander, partner and Southwest program director at EY, said in a statement. “Chosen by an independent panel of judges, these trailblazers show unwavering dedication to their businesses, customers and communities. 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.”

An independent panel of judges selected the 52 Southwest finalists representing 42 companies “for their entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and lasting impact in building long-term value.”

The 2025 Southwest finalists are:

Gordon Huddleston | Aethon Energy Management LLC | Dallas

Dr. Karthik Koduru | Archer Review | Dallas

P.J. Brady, David Cartwright and Brad Hannagan | ATCAP Partners | Dallas

Josh Ernst | Backflip | Dallas

Shilpa Abbitt | Caliber Resource Partners | Oklahoma City

Ray Waddell | CEC Companies | Irving

John Hanighen | Cloyes Manufacturing | Fort Smith, Ar.

Andre Angel | Curis Functional Health | Addison

Kyle Gordon and Maggie Gordon | Dillas Quesadillas | Dallas

Dani Ramirez and Jordan Ramirez | Divi | Dallas

David Iliff | DuraServ | Carrollton

James Showalter | EG4 Electronics, LLC. | Sulphur Springs

Tony Capucille | EightTwenty | Oklahoma City

Karen Ezell | Event Supplies & Services Inc. | Plano

Drake Gordon | Executive Exteriors | Dallas

Will Edwards | Firehawk Aerospace | Addison

Aaron Smith and Callie Turk | Flexcare Infusion Centers | Oklahoma City

Kyle Noonan and Josh Sepkowitz | FreeRange Concepts, LLC | Dallas

Kevin Keller and Allen Shafer | Fulton & Roark | Dallas

Curtis Hite | Improving | Plano

Kristin Rogers | IQ Supply Solutions | Carrollton

Dan Amiga and Mike Fey | Island.io | Coppell

Eric Fortenberry | JobTread Software, LLC | Dallas

John Humphrey | JULY Business Services | Waco

Sara Shenkan-Rich | Just Right Reader, Inc. | Irving

Steve Little, Keith Post and Jayne Williams | KPost Company | Dallas

Garrett Reed | Layne’s Chicken Fingers | Frisco

Tom Currier | Maverick Power | McKinney

Ethan Ellenberg | Moonshot | Denton

Brett Davis | National Indoor RV Centers | Lewisville

Beverly Coghlan | Neighborhood Management, Inc. | Allen

Rachel Sanchez | Prestige Maintenance USA | Plano

Pradeep Govindasamy | QualiZeal Inc | Irving

Bruce McClelland | Ribbon Communications, Inc. | Plano

Justin Shugrue | Shug’s Bagels | Dallas

Alfonso Montiel | SilverStone Health | Dallas

Rob Morris | Skybox Datacenters | Dallas

Mike Freeman | Steele & Freeman, Inc. | Fort Worth

Leif Savage | Tall City Brine LLC | Midland

Prasad Reddy | Twisted X Global Brands | Decatur

Jordan Jayson | U.S. Energy Development Corporation | Fort Worth

Richard J. Hall | US Oral Surgery Management | Irving

Regional award winners to be announced June 9

EY’s Southwest program includes North Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Wichita, Kansas. 

Regional award winners will be announced at a special celebration on June 9. The winners will then be considered by EY’s national independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum, one of America’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies, EY said.

The overall  national winner will represent the U.S. at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year competition.

For more about this year’s Southwest finalists, you can go here.

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