EY US unveils Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 Florida Award finalists
Recognizing ambitious leaders who are shaping the future of their industries
Florida, April 21, 2026 – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced the finalists for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 Florida Award. Now in its 41st year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year® program celebrates the bold leaders who disrupt markets through the world’s most ground-breaking companies, revolutionizing industries and uplifting communities. The program honors entrepreneurs whose innovations drive economic growth and help shape the future of business.
An independent panel of judges selected 35 finalists based on their entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, company growth and lasting impact in building long-term value.
“When we meet this year’s finalists, we don’t just see strong companies — we see the people behind them: founders who took a leap, CEOs who reinvented what was possible, and teams who stayed committed through every challenge,” said Monica Frank, Entrepreneur Of The Year® Florida Program Director.
“Making it to finalist status is an achievement worth pausing to appreciate. On behalf of the program, we want to say thank you for the grit, the leadership and the care it takes to build businesses that create jobs, serve communities and move industries forward. Chosen by an independent panel of judges, these leaders are amongst the best of the best and continue to expand their impact outside their company and into their communities. Congratulations to the entire finalist class,” added Jennifer Williams, Entrepreneur Of The Year® Florida Program Director.
Entrepreneur Of The Year® honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company, transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory, and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to strengthen it for the future.
The 2026 Florida finalists are:
- Joe Mann | Arete | Boca Raton
- Rashid Ali | Chomps | Naples
- Pete Maldonado | Chomps | Naples
- Jorge Gonzalez | City National Bank of Florida | Coral Gables
- Shawn Seipler | Clean the World Global LLC | Orlando
- Hudson Leogrande | Comfrt | Miami
- Marius Silvasan | eCapital | Aventura
- Elizabeth Dosoretz | Elite DNA Behavioral Health | Fort Myers
- Josh Orlinsky | Equiturn Holdings, Inc. | Fort Lauderdale
- Stephen McDaniel | F&I Sentinel | Tallahassee
- Dr. William Kapp | Fountain Life | Orlando
- Wolfgang Brunet | Ideal Nutrition | West Palm Beach
- Roger Susi | IRadimed | Orlando
- David Klar | Klar & Co | Miami
- Bisser Georgiev | LiveTrends Design Group | Apopka
- Eric Bertrand | Mod Op | Fort Lauderdale
- Glenn Parker | NationsBenefits | Plantation
- Wally Budgell | Norlee Group | Jacksonville
- Nada Usina | NU Advisory Partners | Tallahassee
- Gene Scheurer | Optimum Healthcare IT | Jacksonville Beach
- Jason Mabry | Optimum Healthcare IT | Jacksonville Beach
- Amy Upchurch | Pink Stork | Saint Augustine
- Antonio Ellek | Poshi | Coral Gables
- Jeffrey Feuer | RepScrubs® | Sanford
- Michael Morales | RF-SMART | Jacksonville
- Chad Koslow | Ridge IT Cyber | Tampa
- Carlos Domingo | Securitize | Miami
- Jeff Soffen | Spark Pediatrics | Miami Lakes
- Danny Jenkins | ThreatLocker | Orlando
- Michael Peterman | VeraData Holdings | Cape Coral
- Ashish Bagai | Vitana Pediatric & Orthodontic Partners | Fort Lauderdale
- Amir Fardshisheh | Vitana Pediatric & Orthodontic Partners | Fort Lauderdale
- Monika Srivastava | Vitana Pediatric & Orthodontic Partners | Fort Lauderdale
- Phil Santoro | Wilbur Labs | Coral Gables
- David Kolodny | Wilbur Labs | Coral Gables
Learn more about the finalists at ey.com/us/eoyflorida.
Regional award winners will be announced on June 12 during a special celebration. The winners will then be considered by the national independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®.
Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year® Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, LLC, Marsh USA, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In Florida, sponsors also include ADP and Selective Insight– regional silver sponsors.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally.
The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where national finalists and award winners are announced. The national overall winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.
About EY
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All in to shape the future with confidence.
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