The 24th Annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Dinner: SAVE THE DATE!
Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009
Hyatt Regency Crown Center Exhibit Hall
6 until approximately 9 p.m.
Dinner co-chairs: Clark and Tavia Hunt; Dan and Diane Hesse
EOY CONTACTS: For event questions, contact Beth Follmer, 816-235-5748, follmerb@umkc.edu.
For media inquiries, contact Victoria Prater, 816-235-5295, praterv@umkc.edu.
For sponsorship opportunities, CLICK HERE.
INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEUR of the YEAR: Arthur Blank, Home Depot co-founder
Arthur Blank
The Council for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the UMKC Bloch School have announced the recipients of the Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
Arthur M. Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, will be honored as this year’s International Entrepreneur of the Year. Blank is widely known in the business community for his success in building the world’s largest home improvement retailer and the second-largest retailer in the United States. He co-founded The Home Depot in 1978 and retired from the company as co-chairman in 2001. In addition to the company’s financial success, during Blank’s 23 years with The Home Depot the company donated more than $113 million to communities, and Home Depot associates provided hundreds of thousands of hours of personal volunteer time.
Since retiring from Home Depot, Mr. Blank is employing many of the same business principles and values that made him successful The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, which focuses on enhancing education, preserving green space, sustaining the arts and sparking collaboration among community partners. The foundation, along with Blank and his wife's personal giving, has granted more than $250 million since 1995 to various charitable organizations.
REGIONAL ENTREPRENEUR of the YEAR: John Sherman, Inergy
John J. Sherman
John J. Sherman, president and CEO of Inergy, will be honored as this year's Regional Entrepreneur of the Year.
Few entrepreneurs are successful starting one business. Far fewer are successful with a second venture. John Sherman, President and CEO of Inergy, is a rare exception. Sherman began his propane industry career 25 years ago in 1984 and launched his first startup company, LPG Services Group, in 1991. LPG grew to be one of the largest wholesale propane marketers in the nation. In late 1996, John and his partners founded Inergy. What began as a regionally oriented propane company has grown into a broad, diversified energy infrastructure and distribution company. In addition to its retail and wholesale propane business, Inergy is now one of the largest independent natural gas storage operators in the Northeastern United States.
At Inergy, John and his leadership team have fostered an entrepreneurial culture that focuses on consistent performance and industry-leading returns for investors. The company supports its employees’ passions in the community, offering support to many employee-supported organizations, including the Cristo Rey School, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Alzheimer’s Association, the Gillis Center, Ozanam and the Salvation Army.
Marion and John Kreamer Award for Entrepreneurship in Volunteer Community Service
John P. and Susan S. McMeel: John McMeel is chairman and president of Andrews McMeel, which he co-founded, along with the help of his wife Susan, with partner James F. Andrews in 1970. Today, the company is the largest independent newspaper syndicate in the world and a leading publisher of general nonfiction trade books, gift and humor books, and calendars. The McMeels have a history of community involvement and philanthropic giving in Kansas City and beyond.
