EY unveiled the winners of the 2021 Entrepreneur Of The Year Southwest Award in a special virtual celebration on August 4.

The competitive business awards honor entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies from North Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Wichita, Kansas.

Selected by an independent judging panel made up of past award winners—leading CEOs, investors, and other leaders—nominees are evaluated on entrepreneurial leadership; talent management; degree of difficulty; financial performance; societal impact and building a values-based company; and originality, innovation and future plans.

The 2021 Southwest region winners are:

Bill Capuzzi
Apex Fintech Solutions (Dallas)

Naveen Gupta
Birdeye (Coppell)

Rob Davis 
Critical Start (Plano)

Das Nobel and Nipa Nobel
MTX Group (Frisco) 

Juli Spottiswood
Onbe (Plano)

George Popstefanov
PMG Worldwide (Westover Hills)

John Martillo
SignaPay (Irving)

RA Sessions
Taysha Gene Therapies (Dallas) 

Tom Trkla
Yesway (Fort Worth)

Dennis Cail
Zirtue (Dallas)

Winners of the regional award are eligible for consideration in the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum. That winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in June 2022.

“EY is proud to celebrate these unstoppable entrepreneurs and welcome them into our global Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni community,” AJ Jordan, EY Americas Entrepreneur Of The Year program director, said in a statement. “Despite the unprecedented challenges of the past year, these heroic leaders have inspired us all with their unrivaled courage, ambition and unwavering commitment to their companies, clients and communities.”

Here’s the list of the 46 finalists from 38 companies that were announced in June. 

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

In the U.S., EY showcases successful entrepreneurs from 20 regional competitions.

For 35 years, the EY program has recognized those who excel in innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.

Since its beginning, the program has expanded to honor business leaders in more than 145 cities and more than 60 countries worldwide.

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[Image: maystra/iStock]

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