A recent study conducted by Ernst & Young and reported by The Orange County Register shows the 508 nominees competing in the six Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 programs in the West – California, Utah, Washington and Oregon – grew their companies’ combined revenue by 51 percent, generating $30 billion in combined revenue between 2009 and 2011. This rate of growth was 25 percent higher than that of the average Entrepreneur of the Year nominee nationwide.
“Fifty one percent revenue growth among companies these nominees founded or lead really speaks to their willingness to innovate, which is driving the economy in the West. These entrepreneurs are creating new industries – from social networking to cleantech to gene sequencing – and changing the fabric of existing industries. This is further proof that entrepreneurs are critical to job recovery, especially in the West,” said Joe Muscat, partner and West Strategic Growth Markets Leader at Ernst & Young LLP.