Finalists announced for 2020 Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards! Against All Odds, The Spirit of the Entrepreneur will Prevail! Image.
Finalists announced for 2020 Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards! Against All Odds, The Spirit of the Entrepreneur will Prevail!
October 08, 2020
by Spirit Administrator
Views: 9122

Finalists announced for 2020 Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards! Against All Odds, The Spirit of the Entrepreneur will Prevail!

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., October 8, 2020. The Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE) at Cal State San Bernardino announced the finalists for this year's Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards program. Eight (8) entrepreneurs were selected from a pool of over 200 nominees. The 47 semi-finalists participated in a virtual reception on October 7 sponsored by Roorda, Piquet & Bessee, Inc. (RP&B, CPAs), where they interacted with the event judges. Immediately following the reception, the judges convened to select the finalists. The finalists for the event will compete as part of the 18th annual awards program. Due to the unique circumstances of 2020, the awards program focused on recognizing entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs in two (2) unique categories: the COVID Innovator Entrepreneur and the COVID Hero Entrepreneur. Due to the restrictions for in-person events during the coronavirus pandemic, the event will be not be the typical live black-tie gala with over 1,000 people attending. The awards will be presented as part of a broadcast on KSCI Channel 18 on November 21 at 7:00 pm. The winners will be announced during the broadcast.

The 2020 Inland Empire entrepreneurial finalists include:

COVID INNOVATOR ENTREPRENEUR
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Inland Empire Jennifer O'Farrell - Riverside
  • C.H.A.N.T. Training Academy/ G.S.M. Management & Consulting LLC Vincent Garrett - Rancho Cucamonga
  • RPP Products, Inc. Eric Zwigart - Bloomington
  • SoCal Face Shields for Frontline Workers Zubin and Tenzing Carvalho - Hemet
COVID HERO ENTREPRENEUR
  • Another Brilliant Idea, Inc. - Brilliant Mobile Messaging Mary Barnett - Corona
  • Inland SoCal United Way Lisa Wright - Rancho Cucamonga
  • Murrieta/Wildomar Chamber of Commerce Patrick Ellis - Murrieta
  • Victor Valley Rescue Mission Bill Edwards - Victorville

JOIN US IN CELEBRATING THE REGION'S ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT! November 21 AT 7:00 p.m. - KSCI Channel 18 (Check your local TV and Cable listings)

Spirit Awards Broadcast Features!

Special Emcee: Janice Bryant Howroyd, founder and CEO of The ActOne Group, the largest privately held, minority-woman-owned personnel company founded in the U.S. Howroyd is the first African American woman to build and own a billion dollar company.

Presentation of the COVID Hero Award, sponsored by Garner Holt Productions

Presentation of the COVID Innovator Award, sponsored by Best, Best & Krieger, LLP

A special "Where Are They Now" segment featuring past winners of the Spirit of the Entrepreneur Award from the past 17 years

The Garner Holt Student Fast Pitch Competition Presented by IECE and sponsored by Garner Holt Productions, along with supporting sponsor City National Bank, this competition features 90-second business pitches from student finalists vying for top cash prizes for their startup ideas.

Entertainment - This year's entertainment, presented by City National Bank, is Vintage Trouble! The L.A.-based quartet is known for their uplifting blend of rhythm & blues and classic rock. Since forming in 2010, Vintage Trouble have quietly become rock 'n' roll's best kept secret. The quartet have logged 3,000 shows across 30 countries on tour with divinities such as The Who, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Lenny Kravitz, and Bon Jovi, to name a few. Along the way, they also performed on Later... with Jools Holland, Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!, Conan, The View, and The Tonight Show in addition to receiving acclaim from New York Times, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, Billboard, Rolling Stone, and more.

A portion of the proceeds from the Spirit of the Entrepreneur event benefit the Spirit of the Entrepreneur Scholarship established by Dr. Mike Stull, Director of Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship at California State University, San Bernardino. The scholarship is awarded to vetted and deserving entrepreneurship students in order to assist them in achieving their degree.

  • EVENT SPONSORS

    The Spirit of the Entrepreneur event is presented California State University San Bernardino and produced by the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship and The Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration, in partnership with Premier Sponsor, City National Bank. In addition, the event is supported by a wide range of local organizations including:

  • PREMIER AND ENTERTAINMENT SPONSOR City National Bank, an RBC Company
  • PLATINUM SPONSORS Best Best & Krieger LLP, Southern California News Group, Bank of America, Inland Empire Magazine, Wells Fargo, and Inland Empire Business Journal
  • GOLD SPONSORS San Bernardino County EDA, US Bank, Wilson Ivanova CPAs, Altek Media Group, Riverside County EDA, and Varner & Brandt
  • SILVER SPONSORS JPMorgan Chase & Co., CDC Small Business Finance, Pacific Premier Bank, Inland Empire Community Foundation, SmartSyt, City of Ontario, Roark Financial Solutions, and Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG)
  • VIRTUAL JUDGING RECEPTION SPONSOR by Roorda, Piquet & Bessee, Inc. (RP&B, CPAs)
  • FILM WRAP Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE).
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