Ernst & Young has announced the winners of its Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Southwest Awards, honoring 13 “visionary leaders of high-growth companies driving innovation, growth and prosperity for future generations.” The winners are the latest in EY’s four decades-plus run of celebrating “ambitious entrepreneurs who are transforming industries, impacting communities and creating long-term value.”
Of the 13 winners for 2026, 12 are based in North Texas and one is based in Rogers, Arkansas. EY’s Southwest program covers the geographic areas of North Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Wichita, Kansas.
The regional winners were selected by an independent panel of past winners, top CEOs, and business leaders, EY said. Judges evaluated candidates on long-term value creation, entrepreneurial spirit, purpose-driven commitment, and significant growth and impact.
Rex Alexander, EY partner and Entrepreneur Of The Year Southwest program co-director, said this year’s winners are “reshaping their industries and redefining what it means to lead as entrepreneurs.”
“Through their vision, focus, and commitment to growth,” he added in a statement, “they’re building companies that move markets forward, create opportunities for their teamsm and strengthen the communities around them.”
Meet the Winners
The Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Southwest Award winners are:
- Nate Ungarean | AIM Recycling | Dallas
- John Albers | Albers Aerospace | McKinney
- Will Coleman | Alto | Dallas
- Dr. Bharat Sangani | Encore Enterprises, Inc. | Dallas
- Ross Cully | Harvest Group | Rogers, Arkansas
- Trey Rome | Home Tax Solutions | Dallas
- Eric Fortenberry | JobTread Software | Dallas
- Francois Reihani | La La Land | Dallas
- Heath Hill | Lime Media Group | Rockwall
- Ethan Ellenberg | Moonshot | Denton
- Jimmy Shoppa | Shoppa’s Material Handling | Fort Worth
- Tyler Glover | Texas Pacific Land Corporation | Dallas
- Jordan Miller | Yendo | Dallas
These Southwest regional award winners will now move on to be considered for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, set to be presented in November in Palm Springs, California, at the annual Strategic Growth Forum, one of America’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.
For the full list of 2026 Southwest region finalists—including 41 from North Texas—see our story here.
More on the awards program
Judges for the 2026 Southwest awards program [Photo: EY US]
EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year program honors many different types of business leaders for their “ingenuity, courage, and entrepreneurial spirit.” EY said 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.
Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners become lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs, EY noted—receiving “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.”
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Chris Monroe most recently served as CFO of Louisville, Kentucky-based Texas Roadhouse. Prior to that, he spent more than three decades at Southwest Airlines, ultimately serving as SVP of finance, treasurer, and sustainability.
