Ernst & Young Announces Finalists for Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Southwest Award

EY Unveils 44 Visionary Finalists for Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Southwest

Ernst & Young has announced the finalists for its Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Southwest Award-and 41 market-disrupting "bold leaders" in North Texas made the list.

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 making a profound impact on communities," EY said, adding, "The program honors entrepreneurs whose innovations drive economic growth and help shape the future of business."

An independent panel of judges selected a total of 44 finalists representing 41 companies in the Southwest region based on their entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, company growth, and lasting impact in building long-term value. Beyond the 41 finalists from North Texas, three were also selected from Rogers, Arkansas; Oklahoma City; and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

'Making a lasting mark'

Trey Slinkard, partner and Entrepreneur Of The Year Southwest program co-director, said the 2026 finalists "are bold entrepreneurs making a lasting mark on their industries and communities across the Southwest region."

"Chosen by an independent panel of judges, their companies are creating jobs, accelerating innovation and strengthening the regional business community," he added in a statement. "We're thrilled to celebrate their success."

EY said the awards program honors many different types of business leaders for their "ingenuity, courage, and entrepreneurial spirit." Among the entrepreneurs EY celebrates are 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 Southwest finalists are:

• Nate Ungarean, AIM Recycling, Dallas
• John Albers, Albers Aerospace, McKinney
• Will Coleman, Alto, Dallas
• Jeff Foland, Atlantic Aviation, Plano
• Jason Boso, Brain Storm Shelter Restaurants, Dallas
• Horatio Lonsdale-Hands, Buda Juice Inc., Dallas
• Romy Cheema and Sam Cheema, CanTex Capital, Dallas
• Cindy Knoll, Compass Electrical Solutions LLC, Plano
• Ezra Kuenzi, Connect Pediatrics, Dallas
• Mike Hernandez, D&M Auto Leasing, Fort Worth
• Sean Dalfen, Dalfen Industrial LLC, Dallas
• David Hassinger, Direct Orthopedic Care, Plano
• Dr. Bharat Sangani, Encore Enterprises Inc., Dallas
• Gabriel Griess, Excel Medical Staffing, Grapevine
• Ross Cully, Harvest Group, Rogers, Arkansas
• Trey Rome, Home Tax Solutions, Dallas
• Dru Riess, ILS Gummies LLC, McKinney
• Eric Fortenberry, JobTread Software, Dallas
• Jeff Ragan, KiZE Concepts Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Francois Reihani, La La Land, Dallas
• Heath Hill, Lime Media Group, Rockwall
• Tom Mahlke, Mid-States Distributing, Fort Worth
• Ethan Ellenberg, Moonshot, Denton
• Beverly Coghlan, Neighborhood Management Inc., Allen
• Sargon Daniel, Nexus Renewable Power LLC, Plano
• Alexander Kunz, OP2 Labs, Fort Worth
• Dr. Tu Dao, OrthoMed Staffing, Addison
• Margaret Rogers, Pariveda, Dallas
• Kim Kelley, Pepelwerk, Irving
• Raleigh Taylor, Premier Protective Security, Irving
• Matt Elsley and Nick Larkins, QSIC, Dallas
• Jimmy Shoppa, Shoppa's Material Handling, Fort Worth
• Rick Kimbrell, StartKleen, Gunter
• Kyle Al-Rifai, Swift Collision, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
• Tyler Glover, Texas Pacific Land Corp., Dallas
• Biran Rutt, The Emblem Source, Addison
• Brandon Pogue and Jennifer Pogue, TruLabs, McKinney
• Anup Tamrakar, Urban Infraconstruction, Dallas
• Scott Wise, MD, MBA, Valor Healthcare Inc., Dallas
• Imamu "Mu" Tomlinson, MD, MBA, Vituity, Irving
• Jordan Miller, Yendo, Dallas