Ernst & Young Announces Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013 Award® Recipients for Southeast Region

ATLANTA, June 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Ernst & Young LLP announced at a black tie gala on June 6 the award recipients of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013 Award for the Southeast, which includes Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The prestigious award program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.

The award recipients in their respective categories are:

Technology
John Marshall, CEO and Founder, AirWatch, Atlanta GA
AirWatch is the leader in mobile device management, mobile application and mobile content management solutions designed to simplify mobility. Mobile technology is complex, but managing it does not have to be, and Airwatch has developed software that enables the management of any device, anywhere in the world, throughout the full lifecycle. The same concept is applied to the management of apps and content on mobile devices, providing a complete mobility management solution in a single console.

Healthcare and Life Sciences
Michael Cartwright, Chairman, American Addiction Centers, Brentwood TN
American Addiction Centers is a nationwide behavioral healthcare provider focused on addiction treatment and rehabilitation, with hundreds of highly-skilled staff members dedicated to the care and recovery of each patient.  Chairman Michael Cartwright has approximately 20 years of professional behavioral and behavioral health experience, having participated in 15 federally-funded studies on dual diagnoses and addiction and helping tens thousands find their way to recovery.  His experiences helped create the treatment philosophy at American Addiction Centers which is based on five essential elements that can help any individual beat any addiction.

Deal of the Year
David Cummings, CEO Atlanta Tech Village/Kevy (former CEO of Pardot), Atlanta GA
Pardot is a B2B marketing automation software provider that increases revenue and maximizes efficiency for companies with multi-touch sales cycles. It is one of the first companies ever to be able to track the progress of a potential buyer and deliver results to the sellers, helping them know how and when to engage. Pardot was recently sold to Exact Target and founder David Cummings has launched Atlanta Tech Village - the largest high-tech entrepreneur center in the Southeast.

Innovation
David Morken, CEO and Co-Founder, Bandwidth, Raleigh NC
Bandwidth is the 6^th largest voice carrier in the United States and the leading choice for those looking to do new things with communications. The communications technology company powers brands such as Skype, Vonage, Google Voice, Pinger and Pandora. Republic Wireless, a division of Bandwidth, is a wi-fi centric mobile phone provider- leverages wi-fi networks in homes and offices for coverage. Launched in 2011, Republic Wireless has already received a large amount of national media attention such as Wall Street Journal, USA Today, ABC World News Tonight, and the New York Times.

Leadership
S. David Passman III, CEO, Carmike Cinemas, Inc., Columbus GA
What began as a family operation, Carmike Cinemas is the fourth largest motion picture exhibitor in the United States serving primarily mid-size non-urban communities.  As of December 31, 2012, Carmike operated 249 theatres in 35 states. In 2012, Carmike Cinemas was named one of America's 100 Most Trusted Companies by Forbes.

Services
Susan A. Butler, Executive Director of Administrative Services,  and Ann Eldridge, Executive Director of Clinical Services, Early Autism Project, Inc., Sumter SC
Early Autism Project, Inc. is a leading provider of home and clinic-based applied behavioral analysis ("ABA") therapy to children with autism spectrum and related disorders. After Susan's son was diagnosed with Autism in 1995, she met Ann Eldridge, a special education instructor at his school.  Together, the two have defied odds and built a custom program with 450 trained therapists treating 800 children annually.

Social Responsibility
Dr. Albert J. Siemens, Chairman and CEO, FHI 360, Durham NC
FHI 360 is a nonprofit human development organization dedicated to improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions. With expertise in health, education, nutrition, environment, economic development, civil society, gender equality, youth, research and technology, FHI 360 has created a unique mix of capabilities to address today's interrelated development challenges. FHI 360 serves more than 60 countries and all. states and territories in the US with 4,200 staff members – resulting from a collaborative effort between Family Health International and the Academy for Educational Development in July 2011.

Retail and Consumer Products
David Scheible, President and CEO, Graphic Packaging International, Inc., Atlanta GA
With about $4.5 billion in revenue and 14,000 employees, Graphic Packaging is a global leader in the packaging industry producing innovative solutions used by well-known brands around the world. Graphic Packaging is the world's largest manufacturer of folding cartons and other packing solutions such as unbleached paperboard, coated recycle board, flexible packaging, microwave packaging and heat-transfer labels and machinery for consumer food and beverage markets.

Transportation
Monica Wooden, CEO and Co-Founder, MercuryGate International, Cary NC
Mercury Gate International is a cloud-based transportation management system (TMS) that enable shippers and logistics service providers to manage multimodal shipments from any origin to any destination in the world. Inspired by the need for a strategy to empower users to create and execute shipments using cost saving methodologies, the TMS provides universal access to a centralized information source in real time.  In August of 2011, MercuryGate was named by a "Top North Carolina Company to Watch," by CED, a non-profit that promotes entrepreneurial efforts in the state. 

Business and Consumer Services
Jay Faison, Founder and Chairman, SnapAV (Wirepath Home Systems DBA SnapAV), Charlotte NC
SnapAV is a vertically integrated (manufacturer and distributor) B2B supplier of audio/video accessories to the Home AV, Security, Commercial AV and IT/DataCom markets. The company was founded in 2005 after Jay Faison ran his own custom integration business for almost a decade.  Dissatisfied with some of the strategies of suppliers, Jay wanted to create something that was opposite of the industry norm – and has created a successful business that is the reason dealers succeed.

Family Business Award
C. Gray Wheeler, President, Yale Carolinas, Inc., Charlotte NC
Yale Carolinas is a leading provider of material handling products and services carrying a full line of industrial equipment and allied products with focus on new and used sales, leasing, rental forklifts, parts, material handling equipment service and fleet management. The company represents more than 5,000 different material handling products and has locations in North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.

"The award recipients are truly dynamic leaders who strive for business excellence and market leadership, and we are lucky to celebrate their tireless and inspirational efforts," said Connie Austin, Southeast Entrepreneur Of The Year Partner. "We look forward to their representation of the Southeast region at the Strategic Growth Forum and the fresh thinking, new business relationships and growth strategies and best practices they will bring back to the clients and communities they serve."

The Strategic Growth Forum US, now in its seventh year, is the country's most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies. It is a CEO event with more than 2,000 of the nation's top executives, entrepreneurs, advisors and investors.

The Forum's unique convening power offers the opportunity to conduct private leader-to-leader meetings with potential customers, partners, suppliers and merger/acquisition targets as well as hear success stories from game-changing entrepreneurs.

Event speakers include:
Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman and CEO, GE
Bernard J. Tyson, Incoming Chairman and CEO, Kaiser Permanente
Jeffrey C. Sprecher, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, IntercontinentalExchange
Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder, President and CEO, Chobani, Inc.
Dr. Kjell A. Nordström, business author and Associate Professor, Stockholm School of Economics
Pat Riley, President and former head coach of the Miami Heat
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, former World No. 1-ranked tennis players

The Forum concludes with the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Awards, hosted by Jay Leno. The 27-year-old awards program is the largest gathering of entrepreneurs in America.

The judges for the 2013 program are:

Bill Boyd, Chairman, Agility Recovery Solutions, North Carolina
Leah Brown, President and CEO, A10 Clinical Solutions, Inc., North Carolina
Karen Robinson Cope, Senior Vice President, NanoLumens, Inc., Georgia
Michael R. Cote, Chairman and CEO, SecureWorks, Georgia
Amy Mendendorp, Retired SunTrust executive and Piedmont Healthcare Board Member, Georgia
Joe Scarlett, Retired Chairman, Tractor Supply Company, Tennessee
Richard Staub, President and CEO, Novella Clinical, North Carolina 

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored by SAP America and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.  In the Southeast, regional sponsors include King & Spalding LLP, Merrill Datasite, PNC and Vaco.

About Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year^®

Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award recognizes the significant contributions of entrepreneurs who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement.

About Ernst & Young LLP's Strategic Growth Markets practice

Ernst & Young LLP's Strategic Growth Markets (SGM) practice guides leading high-growth companies. Our multidisciplinary team of elite professionals provides perspective and advice to help our clients accelerate market leadership. SGM delivers assurance, tax, transactions and advisory services to thousands of companies spanning all industries. Ernst & Young is the undisputed leader in taking companies public, advising key government agencies on the issues impacting high-growth companies and convening the experts who shape the business climate. For more information, please visit us at ey.com/us/strategicgrowthmarkets, or follow news on Twitter at EY_Growth.

About Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 167,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.

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SOURCE Ernst & Young LLP