Marlu Balmaceda, program manager of SGV-organized Entrepreneur of the Year 2019, calls on Cebuanos to nominate entrepreneurs for the biennial awards. /Irene R. Sino Cruz
CEBU CITY, Philippines—SGV Foundation launched the search for Entreprenuer of the Year 2019, which will honor entrepreneurial leaders who transform businesses, products and services with foresight, courage and compassion.
Marlu Balmaceda, program manager of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019, said they hoped to get many nominations from Cebu, which they consider as next to Manila as far as entrepreneurship is concerned.
“We always get nominations from Cebu. The year that Lance Gokongwei won the Entrepreneurship Award, there were six nominations from Cebu including Wilson Ng,” Balmaceda said.
The award categories are Master Entrepreneur, Woman Entrepreneur, Small Business Entrepreneur and Young Entrepreneur. Under the Master Entrepreneur category, SGV Foundation will look for an individual who has maintained management excellence over a sustained period of time. The business has to be founded more than five years ago, according to an awards handout.
For the woman entrepreneur award, any individual who has shown exemplary management excellence over a sustained period of time can be nominated. She has to be a trailblazer in her particular field of business.
Business owners engaged in industry and/or services with total assets value not exceeding P100 million could also be nominated for the small business entrepreneur category.
On the other hand, an individual aged 35 years and below who has shown exemplary management excellence over a sustained period of time could vie for the Young Entrepreneur award. A nominee should serve as an inspiration and a role model to the youth.
To encourage more nominations for the Young Entrepreneur category, Balmaceda said, they have raised the age limit from 30 and under to 35 and under.
She also disclosed that the biennial award has made a positive impact since it has changed the mindset of many people of what entrepreneurship is. In fact, she said, some schools have offered entrepreneurship as a course.
The nominee must be a Filipino citizen, owner of a privately-held business that is at least two years old; primarily responsible for the company’s recent performance and still active in top-level management if he or she is the founder of a publicly-held company.
A panel of independent judges would evaluate nominees in the areas of entrepreneurial spirit, financial performance, strategic direction, global or community impact, innovation and personal integrity/influence.
When SGV Foundation first launched the Entrepreneur Of The Year in 2013, the winner – Jollibee Foods Corporation president and chief executive officer Tony Tan Caktiong went on to win the World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2004. The past winners include Aboitiz Power Corporation president and chief executive officer Erramon Aboitiz who won the Entrepreneur of Year Philippines in 2011.
SGV Foundation is accepting nominations until May this year while on-site interviews will be conducted in June and July. Judging will be done in August and the finalists will be announced in September.
The awards gala will be held in October this year. The World Entrepreneur Of The Year will be announced in June 2020. /dcb
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