Ernst & Young recently announced that Jim and Gary Cooper of Cooper Farms have been selected as finalists for the 2024 Michigan and Northwest Ohio Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Now in its 38th year, Entrepreneur of the Year is the premier business awards program, recognizing bold leaders who are disrupting markets, revolutionizing industries and transforming people’s lives. For the past 40 years, the program has recognized bold entrepreneurs with big ideas and bold action that are changing the world.
Jim and Gary are among 34 finalists from 30 regional entrepreneurs selected by a panel of independent judges. Nominees were evaluated based on their track record of building long-term value through core contributions and attributes, including entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact.
“My brother Jim and I are honored to have been nominated for this prestigious award,” said Chief Operating Officer Gary Cooper. “When Jim and I joined the company 50 years ago, we never imagined it would be where it is today. We are pleased to keep Cooper Farms a family-owned business and continue to grow.”
This year’s Entrepreneur Awards celebrate the ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit of business leaders of all types. The program will celebrate inventive founders who bootstrapped or raised outside capital to grow their companies from the ground up, transformational CEOs who innovated and jump-started existing organizations, and multi-generational family business leaders who reimagined legacy business models to strengthen them for the future.
Regional award winners will be announced at a special gala on Thursday 20 June 2024 and will become life members of the prestigious community of Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni around the world. Winners will then be judged by a national judging panel for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards and presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum, one of the country’s most prestigious gatherings of market-leading, fast-growing companies.
In addition to the Entrepreneur of the Year award, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network, connecting female founders with Black and Hispanic/Latinx entrepreneurs to provide the resources, networks and access they need to realize their full potential.
