As announced at a press conference on 28 April 2016, EY Luxembourg is organising this year, for the fifth time in Luxembourg, the Entrepreneur of the Year competition, which aims to unveil the exceptional story of entrepreneurs, women and men, based in Luxembourg.

On Thursday, the jury of this renowned competition congratulated the six finalists of this year’s edition of the Entrepreneur of the Year in Luxembourg’s competition, who are as follows:

- Michèle Detaille of ALIPA Group

- Mike Koedinger of Maison Moderne

- Arsène Laplume of Shopping Center Massen

- Georges Lentz Jr of Brasserie Nationale

- Rolf Sorg of PM International

- Claude Wagner of CWA Group

This nomination is the result of a rigorous selection process of all the candidates to the Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 award, who had the opportunity, for those who were selected, to meet the EY professionals, who helped them establish a personalized diagnostic of their companies before providing the members of an independent jury with their sound business cases.

The jury

The independent jury of the « Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 Award » is composed of representatives of the economic world, who are recognised for their experience and their neutrality.

President of the Jury: Nicolas Buck – FEDIL
René Elvinger – Winner of the 2013 edition of the Entrepreneur of the Year
Jacques Hirtt – Fédération des Jeunes Dirigeants d’Entreprise
Fernand Ernster – Confédération Luxembourgeoise du Commerce
Gérard Hoffmann – ICTluxembourg
Tom Theves – Ministry of Economy

“This Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 competition promises to be an exceptional edition because of the high quality of the applications this year. Furthermore, such a competition does not only help reveal outstanding personalities, who differentiate themselves from their talent and their sense of audacity, but it is also an exceptional individual and collective human story, which promotes the key success factors and the future potential of companies based in Luxembourg, while helping them raise their visibility and benefit from a strong media coverage”, said Alain Kinsch, Country Managing Partner of EY Luxembourg.

A unique award for entrepreneurs

“Through the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, EY aims to reward entrepreneurs who have displayed entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, an ingenious strategy of development, an excellent financial performance and an effective management of their human resources and their organization. Those entrepreneurs feed on confidence and cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit”, said Yves Even, Partner in charge of the Entrepreneur of the Year (EoY) - entrepreneurship/SME and family business department at EY Luxembourg.

Even more, “all the finalists of the Entrepreneur of the Year competition have the privilege to access the network of the Luxembourgish (EY Club Entrepreneurs) and French entrepreneurs (Académie des Entrepreneurs d’EY, a unique network of entrepreneurial forces), but also to participate in worldwide high-profile events (Strategic Growth forums, EY family roundtable, EY Family Summit),” said Christophe Gence, Assistant Director and Coordinator of the Entrepreneur of the Year (EoY) - entrepreneurship/SME and family business department at EY Luxembourg.

“With regard to this 2016 outstanding edition, it was particularly hard for our jury members to select the six finalists. This year’s edition included candidates with varied and exceptional backgrounds, with strong local and international anchorage and a significant representation of women,” summarised Nicolas Buck, Chairman of the Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 edition.

A bit of history…

Launched 30 years ago (in 1986) by EY in the United States, the Entrepreneur of the Year Award has been organized in more than 150 cities, 70 countries and rewards more than 900 outstanding entrepreneurs every year. Today, the Entrepreneur of the Year competition is known as the most prestigious award assigned to entrepreneurs coming from all over the world.

The winner unveiled in December

The winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 edition in Luxembourg will be unveiled during a prestigious gala ceremony in the premises of EY Luxembourg on 12 December 2016. The winner in Luxembourg will then have the privilege of competing for the World Entrepreneur of the Year competition which will take place in June 2017 in Monte-Carlo.

Photo (L-R): Yves Even, Partner in charge of the Entrepreneur of the Year (EoY) - entrepreneurship/SME and family business department at EY Luxembourg; Nicolas Buck, President of the jury (edition 2016)