The Entrepreneurs of the Year were celebrated in late June at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where longtime Junior Achievement member Karolyn Johnson received an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Scholarship.

This year’s Entrepreneurs of the Year for Minnesota and the Dakotas now become candidates for the national Entrepreneur of the Year awards, to be announced in November in Palm Springs, California.

For more information about the conference or the Entrepreneur of the Year program, contact Wendy Fox in Ernst & Young’s Minneapolis office at 612-371-6703.



Regional Sponsors:

Faegre & Benson

Twin Cities Business


Presenting Sponsor:

Bank of America


National Sponsor:

SAP Americas

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation


Regional judges:

Theodore Christianson
Managing Director, Piper Jaffray & Company

Jim Leslie
Chairman and CEO, Midwave Corporation

Bill McLaughlin
President and CEO, Select Comfort

Jay Miller
President and CEO, Vital Images, Inc.

Cary Musech
Principal, Tonka Bay Equity Partners

Mikkel Pates
Reporter, Agweek and The Grand Forks Herald

Dr. Chris Puto
Dean, Opus School of Business, University of St. Thomas

Bonnie Baskin


Bonnie Baskin

Life Sciences Category, AppTec

John Olsn


John Olson

Service Category, Olson

Steve Wagenheim


Steve Wagenheim

Emerging Category, Granite City Food & Brewery

Jack Dalrymple


Jack Dalrymple

Master Category, Dakota Growers Pasta Company

Dennis Doyle


Dennies Doyle

Real Estate Category, Welsh Companies

Dennis Lee and Tim Porth


Dennis Lee and Tim Porth

Consumer Produce Category, Octane Fitness

Daniel Murphy

Daniel Murphy

Technology Category, Alliant Techsystems