This might be the best year yet for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year® Awards in the Pacific Northwest (and that’s saying something.) Throughout the region, there’s an incredible group of business minds spurring unprecedented growth in our gorgeous corner of the world. With more and more world-class entrepreneurs entering the program every year, I can’t begin to imagine how challenging it was for our judges to narrow down the list to the eight winners who were announced at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 Pacific Northwest Awards gala on June 17, 2016, at the Sheraton Seattle. We had a blast recognizing our region’s undisputed rock stars. Selected by a panel of independent judges, these leading entrepreneurs in the Pacific Northwest have demonstrated excellence, extraordinary success and a clear commitment to their businesses and communities.

Meet the EY Entrepreneur of the Year® 2016 Pacific Northwest Winners

• Sam Blackman, Co-founder, and CEO, Elemental Technologies, Inc. | Portland, Oregon | Technology Category
• Hans Bishop, President, and CEO, Juno Therapeutics | Seattle, Washington | Life Sciences Category
• Luke Kanies, Founder and CEO, Puppet | Portland, Oregon | Software Category
• Brian Mariotti, CEO, Funko LLC | Everett, Washington | Consumer Goods and Services Category
• Matt Oppenheimer, Co-founder, and CEO, Remitly | Seattle, Washington | Services Category
• Lee Rhodes, Founder, glassybaby | Seattle, Washington | Specialty Retail Category
• Scott Svenson, Co-founder, and CEO, MOD Pizza | Bellevue, Washington | Emerging Category
• Ally Svenson, Co-founder, MOD Pizza | Bellevue, Washington | Emerging Category

Let’s be real: This is the place that Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft and Nike call home. The Pacific Northwest, in a matter of speaking, is the Big Show, and it takes a lot to stand out. What these winners have done is downright impressive. They’ve taken risks, overcome obstacles and transformed their industries. In doing so, they have joined the esteemed company of previous EY Entrepreneur of the Year Pacific Northwest region winners, putting them in the company of leaders behind Expedia, Columbia Sportswear and even the aforementioned Amazon and Starbucks.

With long coastlines, snow-capped mountains, and even semi-arid deserts, the Pacific Northwest is a diverse landscape—often much more so than most realize. Technology may be the region’s bread and butter, but we’re so much more than that. You can see it reflected in the personalities, approaches and backgrounds of our amazing group of winners.

And not only are our winners diverse, they’re incredibly successful. They hail from sectors of retail to the life sciences and the technology industries. These entrepreneurs now join the ranks of 30 years of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year winners. As a group, the 2016 award recipients employ nearly 4,000 people, and are a major source of economic stability, adding more than 2,200 jobs in the last year. They have an aggregate revenue of more than $500 million, and an impressive year-over-year revenue growth rate of 121 percent. Each of the winners now has a shot at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year national program awards, which will be announced at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards gala in Palm Springs, California on November 19, 2016. The awards are the culminating event of the EY Strategic Growth ForumTM, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies. Good luck to you all! We know you will do our region proud.

To learn more about the Pacific Northwest region program and to see photos from the 2016 Awards Gala, please visit ey.com/us/eoy/pnw. Join the conversation on social media by following us @EY_EOYUS using #EOYPNW. And…it’s not too early to throw your hat into the ring for the 2017 competition. To recommend a dynamic leader for the 2017 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Pacific Northwest program, please visit ey.com/us/eoy.

WTIA would also like to congratulate member companies Adaptive Biotechnologies, Donuts, Limeade, LiquidPlanner, Moz, and RealSelf, who were finalists in this year’s event!