Prague, 9 September 2013 – EY is looking for the fourteenth EY Entrepreneur Of The Year in the Czech Republic. The winner of the contest will represent the Czech Republic at the world finals in Monte Carlo. As well as financial results, the judging panel is interested above all in an outstanding business story. The competition categories are EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Czech Republic, Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year, Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year, and Social Entrepreneur Of The Year. The judging panel can also award prizes to the best regional entrepreneurs. Nominations will be received until 30 November 2013.
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year contest is open to anyone who owns or co-owns a company and who plays a decisive and active role in its management. The company must be at least two years old and employ at least 10 people. Anyone can nominate or recommend someone for the contest, regardless of whether they are a colleague, client, employee or relative. The nomination form is available on the contest website at www.podnikatelroku.cz.
“We are looking for outstanding and inspiring entrepreneurs whose success is the result of their hard work. We are looking for people who are not afraid to put their honour and reputation on the line and to reflect carefully upon their decisions. These are people who do not take flight when problems arise, because they take their responsibility for the dozens or even hundreds of people they employ seriously. I believe there are many such people out there and I hope we meet some of them this year,” said Magdalena Soucek, Country Managing Partner of EY Czech Republic and Central and Southeast Europe.
The judging panel will be chaired by František Piškanin of HOPI and EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012: “Winning the prestigious Entrepreneur Of The Year contest organised by EY was fantastic recognition of the work I do,” says František Piškanin, who added: “I am truly proud of how many skilled entrepreneurs I had the opportunity to meet during the Entrepreneur Of The Year process. It just goes to show that the old saying ‘golden Czech hands’ still holds true.” Other winners of the contest will also sit on the judging panel, such as Zbyněk Frolík, LINET, Jannis Samaras, Kofola, and Eduard Kučera, AVAST Software.
The judging panel will abide by international EY rules. The evaluation process is complex and, as well as economic data, also examines the personality of the competitor, their business story, strategic orientation, global reach, etc. The panellists will focus on a candidate’s entrepreneurial spirit, their honesty and fairness, and their socially beneficial activities.
The category Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year is open to any entrepreneur whose company produces technology or uses it in an innovative way. The expert panel is chaired by Ivan Pilný, president of the TUESDAY Business Network, which is the patron of the category.
The category Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year is open to any entrepreneur who has been doing business for a maximum of five years.
This is the eighth year that EY and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship will award a prize to the Social Entrepreneur Of The Year. This category is open to entrepreneurs who apply business practices in order to resolve social problems. They use their abilities and knowledge on projects that help the needy in society, are involved in community projects, help the poor and employ handicapped people.
The winner of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013 and all the other individual category winners will be announced on 4 March 2014. The winner in the Czech Republic will participate in the world final, which will be held from 4 – 8 June 2014 in Monte Carlo.
“The fourteenth year of the contest will have a different title that reflects the new, abbreviated name of EY and our vision, namely that each of us has the opportunity through hard, honest work to make a contribution to a better world. In this respect the entrepreneurs we have met in previous years of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year competition have set an example that is eminently worthy of being followed,” says Magdalena Soucek.
The contest is being co-organised by MF DNES, and iDNES.cz. Accredio and Raiffeisenbank are the contest partners. The contest is supported by the CzechInvest agency, the TUESDAY Business Network, g82, the US Business School Prague, and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Forbes magazine, the weekly Euro, and Czech Radio Radiožurnál are the media partners.
