TRACE3 CEO Hayes Drumwright Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year(R) 2010 Award Recipient in Orange County/Desert Cities

IRVINE, Calif., June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- TRACE3, a leading IT Systems Integration firm that provides solutions for reducing IT infrastructure complexity, announced that last night during the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Ceremony at the Irvine Hyatt, Hayes Drumwright, the company's founder and CEO, was announced the winner of the 2010 Ernst & Young Orange County/Desert Cities Entrepreneur of the Year Award for entrepreneurial excellence in the Technology category.

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"I am very proud of what we have created at TRACE3. Today we have over 100 employees with less than 7% turnover since inception.  We are a top partner with national relevance for Netapp, Riverbed, F5, Symantec, 3PAR, Palo Alto, and others. TRACE3 has over 700 clients in almost every vertical and adds approx 80 new clients per year. We have made the INC 5000 list, OC Metro Best Companies to Work list and OCBJ Best Companies to Work for list.

"All that said, I am particularly proud of how we responded to adversity all the while staying true to who we are.  This is a company that no longer needs Hayes Drumwright to be successful. To me, that is how you know you have succeeded as an entrepreneur. I am very blessed and proud to be given this honor from Ernst & Young; however, I couldn't have achieved all of this without the men and women that make TRACE3 successful on a daily basis." CEO/Founder, Hayes Drumwright.

For more info about Hayes, check out his Blog entry on the TRACE3 Blog.

Drumwright was selected as the winner out of a total of three finalists whom were chosen from more than 60 nominations by a panel of independent judges who recognize entrepreneurs with demonstrated extraordinary success in the areas of innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. 

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards program celebrates its 24th anniversary this year.  The program has expanded to recognize business leaders in over 135 cities in 50 countries throughout the world. 

Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Ernst & Young LLP Entrepreneur of the Year national program.  Award winners in several national categories, as well as the overall national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California on November 13, 2010.  The awards are the culminating event of the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum, the nation's most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies.

National and Regional Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur of the Year awards are sponsored nationally by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and SAP America.  Regional sponsors for the Orange County/Desert Cities competition include Marsh, Union Bank, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, Scherzer International, Strategic Equity Group, the Orange County Business Journal, HKA Inc., and RR Donnelley Financial.

About TRACE3:

TRACE3 is a leading IT Systems Integrator in the Southwest United States that specializes in developing custom solutions that reduce complexity within a corporate IT infrastructure.  TRACE3 helps clients maximize their IT infrastructure ROI by simplifying data management, virtualization, network security and application acceleration, disaster recovery services and new cloud computing initiatives.

For more information on TRACE3, go to www.trace3.com or call +1-949-333-2300.

About Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year® Awards Program

Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world's most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The award makes a difference through the unique way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 135 cities in 50 countries.

Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited located in the U.S.

All product and company names are trademarks of their respective organizations.

SOURCE TRACE3