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Click here to submit your EIEA nominations online or contact Eastern Kentucky University’s College of Business and Technology at 859-622-2334 or via email at cbt.eiea@eku.edu if you have further questions about the nomination process.


If you have been considering nominating a successful non-profit organization, business owner, or young entrepreneur in your community for regional recognition in this year’s Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards (EIEA) program, you now have more time to do so.

People now have until June 11 to submit nominations on local businesspeople they feel are among the top business leaders in Southern and Eastern Kentucky.

The EIEA program—honoring excellence in business since 2001—will accept nominations in the following five categories:

  • For-Profit Business (in existence five or more years with greater than 25 employees)
  • For-Profit Small Business (in existence five or more years with 25 or less employees)
  • Start-Up Business (in existence less than five years)
  • Not-for-Profit Entity (in existence at least six months)
  • Young Entrepreneur (for businesspeople who are 25 years of age and younger)

The top three finalists in each of these categories will be recognized—and the five award recipients announced—on Sept. 10 at the 2012 EIEA Awards Luncheon hosted at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset.

Nominees are judged on the economic success of the enterprise, contributions to the community, job creation, and operational achievement as measured by innovative business practices, superior safety achievement, and superior technology.

The EIEA program is sponsored by Eastern Kentucky University’s (EKU) College of Business and Technology, Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, The Center for Rural Development, and its newest partner, Southeast Kentucky Economic Development Corporation (SKED).

EIEA nominations may be submitted by any individual or business within the EIEA’s 55-county service area on or before June 11. Those counties include: Adair, Bath, Bell, Boyd, Boyle, Breathitt, Carter, Casey, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Cumberland, Edmonson, Elliott, Estill, Fleming, Floyd, Garrard, Green, Greenup, Harlan, Hart, Jackson, Jessamine, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Lincoln, McCreary, Madison, Magoffin, Martin, Menifee, Metcalf, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell, Taylor, Wayne, Whitley, or Wolfe