Prague, 10 September 2019 – EY is looking for a twentieth EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the Czech Republic who will represent our country at the Monte Carlo World Finals. The competition judging panel is interested not only in financial results, but an exceptional entrepreneurial story, too. The competition is in the categories EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year and EY Social Entrepreneur Of The Year. This year, Czech Television will announce the fourth annual winner of its Czech Television Award – Entrepreneurial Contribution to Culture and Art, and MF DNES and iDNES.cz readers will once again vote for the best entrepreneurial story. Successful entrepreneurs in regions will also be awarded. Applications and nominations may be submitted through 21 October 2019.
For 20 years now, the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year competition has been discovering outstanding, highly-motivated personalities with vision and courage. Entrepreneurs who persevered despite difficult beginnings and went on to build stable and prosperous companies.
Magdalena Souček, EY Country Managing Partner in the Czech Republic and for the Central and Eastern Europe Region, throws down the gauntlet: “With the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year competition, we’ve been honoring Czech entrepreneurs for 20 years and challenging them to inspire the public with their entrepreneurial stories. I am pleased that experienced entrepreneurs are joined by younger generations with their unique start-ups, which are gradually contributing to increased employment, significantly helping regional development and increasing the visibility of the Czech footprint abroad. I would like once again this year to call on the public to introduce us to entrepreneurial personalities whom we haven’t met. Nominate entrepreneurs from your company or region, people you value and whose success stories could be just the right inspiration for emerging entrepreneurs.”
“Being awarded as Entrepreneur Of The Year means prestige, experience, joy and motivation. It means making your company and entrepreneurial story visible in the best sense of the word. We believe this is not only a way for us, but also for other – perhaps younger – entrepreneurs. The Monaco World Finals offer inspiration and business opportunities. For us, it was also an opportunity to present Czech engineering and the skills of Czech engineers to the world. We would recommend to everyone to participate in the competition.” So say Radka Prokopová and František Fabičovic, owners of the company Alca plast, s.r.o., holders of the title EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 for the Czech Republic. Radka Prokopová will head up the expert judging panel of this year's competition.
Currently, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, which is regularly announced in more than fifty countries on six continents, is the only world-renowned competition of its kind. Last year, there were more than 320 nominations in the Czech Republic alone; altogether, 93 entrepreneurs from 73 companies applied. There were 10 female entrepreneurs among them. The companies of all the contestants achieved sales of 29 billion crowns, total profit of 1.95 billion crowns and employed more than 8,870 people. The highest hopes for the nationwide title were in the capital city of Prague, South Moravia and Central Bohemia. The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year trophy for the Czech Republic was won by partners in life and business František Fabičovic and Radka Prokopová from the company Alca plast, a world leader in the supply of sanitary equipment.
The nationwide competition finalists were each given a voucher by BMW for complimentary use of a new BMW 5 Series.
This year, American startupist and philanthropist Brad Keywell of Uptake Technologies, a developer of predictive analytical software, won the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Uptake Technologies works with dozens of industrial enterprises to help increase productivity and efficiency through the use of artificial intelligence to process operational data.
Anyone can nominate an entrepreneur, preferably using the nomination form available online at www.podnikatelroku.cz. The application for entrepreneurs is also available on the same website. The deadline for applications and nominations is 21 October 2019.
The judging panel will be headed by last year's winner, Radka Prokopová (Alca plast). She will be joined in deciding on the winner by past EY Entrepreneurs Of The Year, e.g. František Piškanin (HOPI), Zbyněk Frolík (LINET), Eduard Kučera (AVAST Software) and Pavel Juříček (BRANO GROUP). The judging panel complies with internationally applicable EY rules and does not limit itself to financial information. On the contrary, the assessment takes into account, among other things, the competitor’s personality, honesty and rectitude, strategic orientation and innovation and business impact.
The competition categories are EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year and EY Social Entrepreneur Of The Year. Traditionally, the judging panel also awards the best entrepreneurs in individual regions. Regional EY Entrepreneur of the Year titles are awarded every year for the Olomouc, South Moravia, Moravia-Silesia, Zlín, Prague and Central Bohemia regions. Depending on the number and quality of nominees, the judging panel may also recognize entrepreneurs in other regions. Last year, Czech Television, the competition’s main media partner, awarded the Czech Television Award – Entrepreneurial Contribution to Culture and Art for the third time. Its aim is to reward personalities who, in addition to their entrepreneurial activities, actively promote culture or enhance the public space. Main competition co-organizer MF DNES and iDNES.cz. traditionally announces a reader's survey of the best entrepreneurial story.
Entrepreneurs whose companies create or use technologies in an innovative way can be nominated for the EY Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year category. The expert judging panel is chaired by Jaroslav Klíma, CEO and chairman of the Board of Directors of TESCAN ORSAY HOLDING, holder of the titles Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011 and Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011 for the South Moravia region.
An entrepreneur who has not reached the age of thirty at 31 December 2019 or who has been in business for 5 years or less (i.e. starting sometime after 1 January 2014) can be nominated for the EY Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year award. If multiple entrepreneurs are applying for one company, all must meet the age or length of business condition to be included in this category. The condition regarding number of employees does not apply to this category.
The Czech Television Award for Entrepreneurial Contribution to Culture and the Arts may include any competition participant who financially or materially supports projects that help to cultivate Czech public life through art (music festivals, exhibitions, etc.), as well as through projects focused on public space (landscape management, cultural heritage, architecture, etc.). Support for these projects is not a subject of the entrepreneur’s business activity and is not realized for profit. For more information about the evaluation criteria for the CT Award – Entrepreneurial Contribution to Culture and Art, go to: https://podnikatelroku.cz/cena-ceske-televize-podnikatelsky-prinos-kulture-a-umeni
This year for the 14th time, EY is also announcing the EY Social Entrepreneur Of The Year competition. Entrepreneurs, founders of commercial or non-profit organizations or owners (co-owners) of companies that have been in business (at 31 December 2018) for at least 2 years and who apply business principles in practice to address social problems, can apply. Socially beneficial entrepreneurship is about introducing practical, innovative approaches aimed at marginal issues or social groups and should provide a practical and viable alternative to purely charitable or state policy in the area. The competition is supported by the international network of social innovators, Ashoka.
The name of the winner of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Czech Republic title, along with the other category winners, will be announced on 3 March 2020. The Czech winner will participate in the world finals to take place 4 – 7 June 2020 in Monte Carlo.
The official car of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 competition is BMW Group Czech Republic. Raiffeisenbank is a competition partner. The main co-organizer is the daily MF DNES and iDNES.cz. The main media partner is Czech Television; other media partners are Forbes magazine and the Info.cz. news portal. The competition is supported by CzechInvest and Ashoka and held under the auspices of the Czech Chamber of Commerce.
