EY's Entrepreneur of the Year competition opens applications in Romania

Four Romanians and an expat will decide who will represent Romania at the Entrepreneur of the Year Competition organized by EY, and who could attend the final awards ceremony at Monte Carlo next year. The jury that will evaluate all entrepreneurs who will sign up in the competition is made of Stefania Eugenia Popp, executive director of Junior Achievement Romania, Iulian Stanciu, CEO of online retailer eMag, Mihai Marcu, president of the Medlife private health clinics, Cornel Marian, managing partner at Oresa Ventures private equity firm, and Omer Tetik, general manager of Banca Transilvania. It is the first time when EY launches the Entrepreneur Of The Year Competition in Romania. This event is part of the largest entrepreneurial competition worldwide, World Entrepreneur Of The Year. Through it, EY wants to promote and support entrepreneurship in Romania, which still lags behind other European countries. “If we look in the top 100 companies in Romania, 70 percent of the companies are subsidiaries of international companies and out of the remaining 30 percent the majority are state owned companies. We aim to stimulate entrepreneurship through this program. Now Romania has approximately 23 small and medium enterprises for each 1,000 people, half the EU average. However, Romania is above the EU average on the intention for opening new businesses,” Bogdan Ion, Country Managing Partner for EY said. Entrepreneurs in Romania can sign in for the competition until July 25 2014 and the winners will be announced on November 12. The Romanian Entrepreneur Of The Year will go to the world final in Monte Carlo next year in June. The minimum requirements for participation in the company state that the candidate must own at least 20 percent of a business that is focused mainly in Romania, that is at least three years old and has been generating revenues for at least two years. The business must have at least 10 employees and the candidate must be involved in running it. Nationality is not an issue so foreigners can also apply, but their businesses should focus on Romania. To register, go here (page in Romanian). The Entrepreneur Of The Year competition was launched in 1986 in the US and this year it will take place in 60 countries worldwide. In the past years, the World Entrepreneur Of The Year title went to entrepreneurs such as Guy Laliberte, manager of Cirque du Soleil and Hamdi Ulukaya, founder of yogurt producer Chobani. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com