UVEF Awards 2008 "Top 25 Under Five"
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The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) today announced winners of its 2008 "Top 25 Under Five" Awards spotlighting outstanding Utah entrepreneurs from across the state. Award recipients were recognized today at ceremonies held at Noah's in Lindon. The event was sponsored by InnoVentures Capital Partners, Silicon Slopes and Omniture. Nutritional supplements and cosmetics provider Agel Enterprises ( www.agel.com) was recognized as the number one performer among Top 25 nominees.
"These Top 25 winners have demonstrated excellence in their fields and provide the brightest of prospects for the future growth of Utah business," said Shauna Theobald, UVEF 2008 Chair. "This group represents the spirit of entrepreneurship and sets the mark by which others will be measured."
This year's other award recipients are Control4, Skull Candy, Seastone, Mindshare Technologies, Sunrise Publishing Group, Aribex, Cymphonix, Alianza, Navigator Business Solutions, Vested Group, InsideSales.com, Procerus, OrangeSoda, Hunter Composites, Experience Dental Studio, Q90, Snapp Conner PR, Rockwell, Ad Hoc Electronics, FundingUniverse, LineaGen, Renasis, Kaufman Enterprise Solutions, Ciralight, Five Star Painting, and Rocketship.
UVEF's Top 25 Under Five Awards is celebrating it ninth year of recognizing the development of more than 175 entrepreneurs and their companies. Competing companies are judged based on revenue growth and job creation.
UVEF Chair Shauna Theobald discusses UVEF's contribution to Utah's economic success: YouTube Webcast
The UVEF is a non-profit support group working to share knowledge and experience. As a nonprofit organization founded in 1989, the UVEF promotes the development and growth of entrepreneurial ventures by: providing networking opportunities, promoting recognition of business accomplishments and contributions, sharing business experiences, and by encouraging free enterprise. Information on upcoming meetings, speakers, and membership can be found at www.uvef.net.
Utah's business landscape is rich with entrepreneurs who have led the state's economy to success. These individuals exude innovation, show sound business strategies and have established companies that have proven financial success. The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) celebrated 25 of the state's top entrepreneurs in its 2008 Top 25 Under Five awards program last week. UVEF received more applications for the award than ever before, demonstrating Utah's strong entrepreneurial spirit.
"These Top 25 winners have demonstrated excellence in their fields and provide the brightest of prospects for the future growth of Utah business," said Shauna Theobald, UVEF 2008 chair. "This group represents the spirit of entrepreneurship and sets the mark by which others will be measured."
Each company honored began less than five years ago, many in home basements. "I'm sure most of the companies here today remember their first year, where you were struggling to pay the bills and make payroll," said Steve Grizell of Innoventures Capital Partners. "Today the top five companies have revenue growth that's reaching $100 million."
During the event, some of the entrepreneurs shared lessons learned. "I think one of the things we've learned is ideas are important, but execution is everything," said Kurt Williams, CTO of Mindshare Technologies. "It's been quite an experience. From the early days of our company, we worked on card tables and borrowed office space. Today, we're in 67 countries. It's been an amazing ride."
"[To be an entrepreneur] you must not be afraid to take risks, overcome obstacles and find a way to get things done," added Eric Child, president of Seastone Consumer Products Group.
Rick Alden, CEO of Skullcandy said that entrepreneurship is key to a healthy economy. "Every economy needs a group of people that look for and find problems to solve and then provide unique solutions," he said. "[Entrepreneurs] create jobs that didn't exist before and make a better economy."
Ranging from nutrition to marketing to technology, one thing that binds each honored entrepreneur together is the determination to see the dream become reality.
Mindshare Technologies' business monitoring tools help companies improve operational excellence and minimize customer attrition through personal customer involvement. Mindshare's proprietary survey technology captures the voice of the customer in real-time and immediately transforms it into actionable intelligence through powerful and incisive enterprise reporting. With Mindshare, companies can determine the type of information they collect, who can access it, and how it's reported. As a hosted system, Mindshare is affordable and flexible, with surveys and reports tailored to fit individual needs. The reports are web-accessible 24/7 or by timed email delivery. Mindshare serves more than 25 different industries including travel, hospitality, restaurant, financial, salon, automotive, and retail. Clients range from small regional chains to large multinational corporations. For information, visit www.mshare.net.
