Prairies Finalists Announced for the Most Prestigious Business Awards in Canada

    The 14th annual Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year(R) Awards name
    finalists

    CALGARY, July 5 /CNW/ - Out of an impressive list of nominees, 45
outstanding Prairies region entrepreneurs who have demonstrated courage,
determination and leadership have been chosen as finalists in the 2007 Ernst &
Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program.
    "The economic landscape in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan is ripe
with great entrepreneurial talent," says Barry Munro, director of the Ernst &
Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program for the Prairies region. "We
feel privileged to be able to celebrate the successes and innovative talent
from our Prairie nominees."
    The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards have proudly honoured the innovation
and relentless entrepreneurial spirit of Canada's leading businesspeople for
the past 14 years. The program considers nominees in a number of business
categories before selecting finalists. The following are finalists for
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2007, Prairies region:

    Business-to-Business Products and Services

    Peter Lacey
    Cervus LP (John Deere, Bobcat and JCB dealership owner/operator)
    Calgary, AB
    www.cervuslp.com

    Maria De Nardi
    Mondo Foods Co. Ltd. (Broad line, specialty foods company)
    Winnipeg, MB
    www.mondofoods.com

    Lyle Best
    Quikcard Solutions Inc. (Health plan administrator and health claim
    software developer)
    Edmonton, AB
    www.quikcard.com

    Louie Tolaini
    TransX Group of Companies (Integrated transportation solutions provider)
    Winnipeg, MB
    www.transx.com

    Business-to-Consumer Products and Services

    Eveline Charles
    Eveline Charles Salons & Spas (Hair salon/day spa operator and product
    manufacturer)
    Edmonton, AB
    www.evelinecharles.com

    Guy Goodwin, Dale Moran
    Pizza 73 (Pizza chain with 48 locations in Western Canada)
    Edmonton, AB
    www.pizza73.com

    Wayne Henuset
    Willow Park Wines & Spirits (Fine wine and spirit retailer)
    Calgary, AB
    www.willowpark.net

    Emerging Entrepreneur

    Jeff McIntosh
    Canadian Global Air Ambulance (International air ambulance organization)
    Winnipeg, MB
    www.canadianglobalair.ca

    Trent Bruce, Rick Daigle, Karen Narfason, Barry Rinehart
    Concept Compression Corp. (Designs, sells, services natural gas
    compression packages)
    Calgary, AB
    www.conceptcompression.com

    Dick Brown
    Ferus Inc. (Produces, transports and stores industrial gases)
    Calgary, AB
    www.ferus.ca

    Energy Producers

    Pat Carlson
    North American Oil Sands Corporation (Start-up oil sands developer)
    Calgary, AB
    www.naosc.com

    Don Allan
    Peace River Oil Inc. (Provider of crude upgrading/refining process to
    bitumen producers)
    Red Deer, AB
    www.peaceriveroil.com

    Guy Turcotte
    Western Oil Sands Inc. (Develops, produces and upgrades bitumen into
    light oil)
    Calgary, AB
    www.westernoilsands.com

    Energy Services

    John Geddes, Bill Lingard
    Flint Energy Services Ltd. (Midstream construction and production service
    provider)
    Calgary, AB
    www.flintenergy.com

    Lee Gottschlich
    GLM Industries LP (Manufacturing and engineering design company)
    Nisku, AB
    www.glmindustries.com

    Delton Campbell
    Innicor Subsurface Technologies (Supplier of wellbore products and
    related services)
    Calgary, AB
    www.innicor.com

    Darwin Deleeuw, Carrie Duncan, Mike Duncan
    Lincoln County Oilfield Services Ltd. (Pipeline and new facility
    construction company)
    Athabasca, AB
    www.lcos.ca

    Don Basnett
    Pyramid Corporation (Oil field service company)
    Nisku, AB
    www.pyramidcorporation.com

    Manufacturing

    Craig McIntosh
    Acrylon Plastics (High-quality, low-cost plastic product manufacturer)
    Winnipeg, MB
    www.acrylon.com

    Rob Stenson
    Ag Growth Income Fund (Manufacturer of grain handling and conditioning
    equipment)
    Winnipeg, MB
    www.aggrowth.com

    Sean Frisky
    Ground Effects Environmental Services Inc. (Designer and manufacturer of
    in-site remediation equipment)
    Regina, SK
    www.groundeffects.org

    Kevin Halliday
    Spindle, Stairs & Railings (Manufactures/sells staircases, railings and
    finishing products)
    Calgary, AB
    www.greatstairs.com

    Ted Degner, Dwayne Hunka, Donald Oborowsky
    Waiward Steel Fabricators Ltd. (Steel fabrication facility)
    Edmonton, AB
    www.waiward.com

    Media and Communications

    Ross Harvey, Kim McConnell
    AdFarm (Agricultural marketing and communications firm)
    Calgary, AB
    www.adfarmonline.com

    Mark Hofer
    Direct Focus Marketing Communications Inc. (Marketing communications
    firm)
    Winnipeg, MB
    www.directfocus.com

    Jeff Bradshaw
    Zoom Communications Inc. (Full-service film and video production company)
    Calgary, AB
    www.zoomcom.ca

    Real Estate/Professional/Financial Services

    Larry Pollock
    Canadian Western Bank (Federally chartered, Schedule 1 bank)
    Edmonton, AB
    www.cwbankgroup.com

    Martin Dolemo
    Dolemo Development Corporation (Diversified real estate company)
    Calgary, AB
    www.dolemocorp.com

    Clive Oshry, Michael Oshry
    Globex Foreign Exchange Corporation (Personal and corporate foreign
    exchange firm)
    Edmonton, AB
    www.globexfx.com

    Barb Gamey
    Payworks Inc. (Payroll services and software solutions provider)
    Winnipeg, MB
    www.payworks.ca

    Technology

    Mike Mabey, Nashir Samanani
    Elluminate Inc. (Technology firm providing Web conferencing and
    e-learning)
    Calgary, AB
    www.elluminate.com

    Mark Ryski
    HeadCount Corporation (Retail traffic and customer conversion analysis
    provider)
    Edmonton, AB
    www.headcount.com

    Greg Surbey
    ICOM Productions Inc. (E-learning provider)
    Calgary, AB
    www.icomproductions.ca

    John MacInnes
    Print Audit (Print tracking software provider)
    Calgary, AB
    www.printaudit.com

    Special Recognition

    Camille Dow Baker
    Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (provider of
    education, training and technical consulting to organization that serve
    the poor in developing countries)
    Calgary, AB
    www.cawst.org

    On October 11, 2007, a finalist in each business category will be
presented with a regional category award during a gala celebration, with one
category recipient then being awarded the title of Entrepreneur Of The Year
for the Prairies region. The Prairies award recipient goes on to compete with
top entrepreneurs from the Pacific, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic regions for
the coveted national honour of Entrepreneur Of The Year for Canada, to be
announced on November 1, 2007, in Toronto. In June 2008, Canada's Entrepreneur
Of The Year moves to the world stage, joining more than 40 country recipients
participating in the international competition for the title of Ernst & Young
World Entrepreneur Of The Year(R), and joining the ranks of this year's
winner, Canada's own Guy Laliberté from Cirque du Soleil.
    The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards honour entrepreneurs who have
demonstrated excellence and extraordinary success in areas such as innovation,
risk taking, company development, financial performance and personal
commitment to their businesses and communities. Submissions are reviewed by an
independent judging panel, which is composed of several distinguished business
leaders and previous award recipients. The judges on the Prairies region panel
for 2007 are Paul Colborne, President, StarValley Oil and Gas Ltd. and TriStar
Oil and Gas Ltd.; Glenn Feltham, Dean, University of Manitoba; Susan
Gallacher, Vice President, DirectCash Income Fund; James Keirstead, VP
Marketing, Blue Falls Manufacturing Ltd.; Arthur Mauro, Investors Group; and
Allan Ross, Chief Executive Officer, Ross Smith Energy Group.
    There will be a Webcast for all finalists on Tuesday July 10, 2007, at
11:30am EST. A link to this Webcast will be forwarded to finalists by July 6,
2007.
    The Entrepreneur Of The Year Program was founded by Ernst & Young to
celebrate great entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence and
extraordinary success in areas such as company development, financial
performance and risk taking. The program is nationally sponsored by Global
Television Network, National Post, La Presse, RDI, Roynat Capital and SAP. As
well, Prairies region sponsors are Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, Calgary
Herald and Red Point Media.
    To learn more about the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2007
Awards, visit www.eoy.ca.

    About Ernst & Young

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For further information: Nichola Petts, Media Relations, (416) 941-1813,
 nichola.petts@ca.ey.com; or Sarah Ostrow, EOY, (403) 206-5128, 
Sarah.Ostrow@ca.ey.com