EY Announces LanzaJet CEO Jimmy Samartzis As Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Midwest Award Finalist.
Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) has announced LanzaJet CEO Jimmy Samartzis as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Midwest Award finalist. The Midwest program celebrates entrepreneurs from Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
Now in its 38th year, EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive business award for audacious leaders who disrupt markets, revolutionize sectors and have a transformational impact on lives. Over the past four decades, the program has recognized the daring entrepreneurs with big ideas and bold actions that reshape our world.
Samartzis was one of 30 regional entrepreneurs selected as finalists by an independent panel of judges. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.
Jimmy Samartzis, LanzaJet CEO, said:
For nearly four decades, this program has celebrated transformative leaders who are not afraid to disrupt industries and pave new paths.
“Being acknowledged by such a storied program underscores the impact of our collective efforts at LanzaJet, where we strive daily to innovate and push the Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) industry forward.”
As a leading SAF technology company and sustainable fuels producer, LanzaJet’s patented ethanol-to-SAF technology offers one of the most promising paths for decarbonizing the aviation industry. Earlier this year, LanzaJet celebrated the grand opening of Freedom Pines Fuels, the world’s first ethanol-to-SAF production facility, which will soon begin producing 10 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel per year from ethanol. LanzaJet’s technology uses a range of sustainable, low carbon intensity ethanol, including from waste-based feedstocks, to substantially increase SAF production in the United States and around the world.
Entrepreneur Of The Year honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates 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 fortify it for the future.
Regional award winners will be announced on June 12th during a special celebration and will become lifetime members of an esteemed community of Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni from around the world. The winners will then be considered by the National judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.
In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network and access needed to unlock their full potential.
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EY Announces LanzaJet CEO Jimmy Samartzis As Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Midwest Award Finalist. source