Smart Business Akron/Canton

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Bill Fink

Fink has grown his business into one of the most reputable traffic control providers in the nation, and a recent capital infusion from a private equity fund will provide a partnership to expand AWP into additional states, with the goal of providing services to most, if not all, of the major utility companies in the eastern United States.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Paul Franks

The surface and sub-base have to be graded perfectly to maximize performance and safety, and often, projects are widely publicized due to the millions of dollars invested and the public's interest in sports venues.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Tari S. Rivera

Rivera understands the difficulties that women have in the construction industry and helps develop all of her employees, and she advocates specific career paths that provide high levels of job satisfaction.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: James Zedella

[...] every employee participates in a revenue-based bonus plan. Because of Zedella's outstanding management, employees have high morale, resulting in outstanding performance and intelligent decision-making, and the company also experiences low turnover.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Dr. Hiroyuki Fujita

With the help of a few CWRU colleagues, Fujita developed a smaller coil to be used in MRI equipment, which makes the imaging process more efficient and timely, thereby decreasing the amount of time that a patient has to spend in an MRI machine.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Scot Rourke, Mark Ansboury

[...] OneCommunity partnered with NorTech to launch the Northeast Ohio Regional Health Information Organization in order to enhance the quality of health care while reducing costs through initiatives such as shared electronic medical records and videoconferencing capabilities for off site physicians.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: James W. Rogerson

There were times he wasn't able to take a salary, but he stayed committed, and under his leadership, the company has grown. Since 2006, when he resigned from Eliza Jennings to run Therapy Partners as its president and CEO, the number of employees has grown 225 percent and revenue has increased 250 percent.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Craig S Hartman

Yet just a few months later, Hartman became the manager of Preferred Acquisitions LLC, which, at the time, was a struggling painting and flooring services company owned by Arlington Capital Acquisitions Co. After managing the company for 28 months, he bought it and, about a year later, bought a failing roofing company, integrating the new service line into the company to begin offering three distinct types of construction services.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Mark J. Williams

[...] in 1995, Williams sold PSI and founded Virtual Hold Technology LLC to develop a solution to this hold-time problem. Because there wasn't a ready-made solution, he set out to develop one on his own from scratch.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Deborah Donley

Under Donley's leadership, Vocon has become a leader in the green movement and is transforming the work environments of some of the largest and most influential companies in Cleveland, and her innovative approach makes her one of the region's most influential entrepreneurs.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Steven Gerard

Since 2003, CBIZ has seen its revenue grow by 43 percent and its earnings per share have increased at least 20 percent for six years in a row.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Donald Frankel

The software also affords clients the ability to systematically calculate the return on the investmentin preventive maintenance in terms of avoided breakdowns and resulting downtime. Because of ViewPoint's unique characteristics, Predictive Service is able to aid its clients in maintenance scheduling by using predictive data, which, in turn, reduces or eliminates the need for full-time maintenance technicians.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Ed Kenty

Kenty, along with the company's founders, decided to take PPI to a new level, so in 2004, it shifted its position in the marketplace by offering post-warranty hardware maintenance services and becoming a multiplatform service provider, selling complex multivendor solutions.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Marc Blaushild

MARC BLAUSHILD president and CEO Famous Enterprises Marc Blaushild's colleagues would describe him in many positive ways for his contributions and accomplishments over the years to Famous Enterprises, a wholesale HVAC company, but he's a modest man, and these praises would probably make him blush.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Nicholas Dicello

Because most people spend more time at work than at any other place, he has a "Work hard, play hard" mantra that includes ongoing education and advanced skills training for employees, but he also offers ongoing incentives, trips, prizes and cash to motivate his team.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Stella Moga-Kennedy

Starting with three children, Le Chaperon Rouge quickly grew to 89 in just nine months. [...] Le Chaperon Rouge has enlarged to an eight-location business, with a ninth location in the works.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Jon Park

Today, just eight years after founding the bank and under Park's leadership as president, Westfield Bank has garnered a reputation as one of the region's most innovative financial services companies and is one of Northeast Ohio's fastest-growing savings banks.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: William J Centa, J.D. Sullivan Jr.

With its global reach, the company can cover both global and local customers with consistent service and quality, exploit worldclass products and practices, optimize logistics, material and labor costs, and accommodate the local preferences, languages and regulatory requirements of its customers. Besides improving the accessibility of Mayfran's services, Centa and Sullivan have developed a multifaceted growth strategy for future endeavors.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Steven A. Maxim

In 2005, Maxim was recognized as an Inc. 500 company as its operations spanned Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. [...] the business has doubled in size and expanded into Virginia, New Jersey, Minnesota, Maryland and Washington, D.C. In addition, Maxim has another company, BargainLocks, which sells padlocks, door locks, lockboxes, tarps, power tools, locksmith equipment and other supplies to property preservation contractors across the nation.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Joel A. Testa

[...] his goal has been to build the small, family-run, construction company that his father founded into a larger, more sustainable organization that is focused on the long term.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Greg Flynn

GREG FLYNN chairman and CEO Apple American Group When Greg Flynn acquired eight Applebee's restaurants in the Seattle area 11 years ago, he wasn't blindly entering the game as a restaurant franchisee.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Saji Daniel

[...] at age 22, his high school sweetheart - now his wife - convinced Daniel to work for her mother's company in the trucking industry, where he worked his way up the ranks and was eventually promoted to general manager, overseeing 66 employees.

Conveying Change

After working behind closed doors on a company merger that meant a new name and brand, John Selinsky wanted the announcement to be an exciting event to get employee buy-in. There were hats and shirts, and even the company's trucks were stamped with the new name - Selinsky FORCE - in time for the announcement.

Making It Work

A client who made up more than 50 percent of the business for Jarrett Logistics Systems Inc. owed the transportation management company more than $300,000 but was about to file for bankruptcy. Smart Business spoke with Jarrett, the president and founder of the 22-employee company, about how to build better relationships to avoid future problems with customers.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Robert Klein

With the money, he bought a taxi and became a taxi driver in New York City, and within five years, he owned five cabs and had drivers working for him.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Tim French

By 17, he had purchased a local bike shop, and during the next two years, opened two additional shops and grew the business through other channels, such as mail order, motorized bikes, repairs and accessories.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Andrew J. Sherman

While financing challenges its efforts, Sherman has successfully leveraged the company's relationship with venture capitalists and visionary customers, such as the Department of Defense, to assist his team in securing the funds needed to take Powdermet and its products to a new level of success and viability.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Robert Fritz

ROBERT FRITZ president Avtron Aerospace When Robert Fritz joined Avtron Aerospace, he had big plans for turning the complacent family-run business into a high-technology growth organization.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009: Michael A. Bass

Wal-Mart has seen the benefits of the system through double-digit sales growth in the field, and Hy-Ko plans to install the KID system into thousands of retail outlets nationwide. Besides expanding Hy-Ko's key duplication industry, Bass has helped expand the company's presence in the community.