Entrepreneur of the Year

Kansas City, MO, June 25, 1998 -- The road to Palm Springs, the site of the 12th annual national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition, begins as thirteen award winners were announced at a banquet attended by nearly 600 of Kansas & Western Missouri's business leaders.

According to Randy Buseman, the leader of entrepreneurial services of Ernst & Young's Kansas City office, the 1998 Entrepreneur Of The Year award recipients are:

• Robert D. Regnier, President, The Bank of Blue Valley, Overland Park, KS. Financial Services Award Recipient.
• Dewey L. Brittain, President & CEO, Brittian Machine, Inc., Wichita, KS, Manufacturing Services Award Recipient.
• John H. Cross, President, Cross Manufacturing, Inc., Overland Park, KS, Turnaround Entrepreneur Award Recipient.
• Glen L. Shank, Chairman & President, Duckwall-ALCO, Inc. Abilene, KS, Retail Award Recipient.
• Tom Feist, President and Roberta Feist. CFO, Feist Publications, Inc., Wichita, KS, Communications/Publishing Award Recipients.
• Michael W. Keenan, President and H.B. Turner, Vice-President - Salis, Heatron, Inc., Leavenworth, KS, Manufacturing Industrial Award Recipients.
• Donald R. Landoll, Chairman, Landoll Corporation, Marysville, KS, Master Entrepreneur Award Recipient.
• Cloud L. "Bud" Cray, Chairman, Midwest Grain, Inc., Atchison, KS, Supporter of Entrepreneurship Award Recipient.
• Scott Hartman, Chairman and CEO, and Lance Anderson, President and COO, NovaStar Financial, Inc., Westwood, KS, Emerging Entrepreneur Award Recipients.
• W. David Kimbrell, CEO, Oread, Inc., Lawrence, KS, KTEC Technology Award Recipient.

The banquet, held at Hyatt Regency Crown Center Hotel, is the regional finale to an intensive search to identify and recognize Kansas & Western Missouri's outstanding entrepreneurs.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program was founded in 1986 by professional services firm Ernst & Young LLP and is produced by the firm. National co-sponsors include USA TODAY, the Nasdaq Stock Market, the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Entrepreneur Of The Year Institute. The awards are sponsored locally by George K. Baum & Co., Mercantile Bank, the Kansas City Business Journal, KPHN Radio 1190 and Sprint Corp.

Kansas & Western Missouri's winners are now eligible to participate in the national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards competition, the pre-eminent program honoring outstanding owners of fast-growing companies. The program recognizes entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities, The 1997 national Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs Of The Year were father-and-son team Jack and Andy Taylor of Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

This year's national search will culminate in Palm Springs, California, November 12-15, 1998, with a nationally televised, black-tie awards gala. National finalists and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award winners will be announced and celebrated by more than 1,700 attendees as part of the Entrepreneur Of The Year institute International Conference.

Previous Entrepreneur Of The Year award recipients, a "Who's Who" of business leaders, include Michael Dell of Dell Computer Corporation, Jim McCann of 1-800-Flowers, Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee, Leon Gorman of L.L. Bean, Sheryl Leach of the Lyons Group (creators of "Barney") and Steve Case of America Online.

Previous Kansas & Western Missouri winners include Henry W. Block of H&R Block, Inc. Jamie B. Coulter of Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon, Inc., Barnett C. Helzberg, Jr. of Helzberg Diamonds, Inc. and Stanley H. Durwood of AMC Entertainment, Inc.

The independent panel of judges, which selected Kansas & Western Missouri's award recipients consisted of:

• Paul E. Clay, Chief Executive Officer, Mid-American Manufacturing Technology Center
• Robert A. Hoehn, President, LICO, Inc.
• Jana Mathews, Senior Research & Teaching Fellow and Director of Learning Programs for High Growth Entrepreneurs, the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
• Michael J. Meyer, President, Merit Capital Management, Inc.
• Leo E. Morton, Senior Vice President, UnliCorp United Inc.
• David C. Nesbitt, President, Devlin Enterprises.
• Duncan M. O'Brien, Vice Chairman & Director of Investment Banking, George K. Baum & Company.
• David J. Schulte, Partner, Kansas City Equity Partners.

Entrepreneur of the Year® is a registered service mark of Ernst & Young LLP.

Ernst & Young LLP provides assurance and advisory business services, tax services and consulting for domestic and global clients. The firm has 29,000 people in 87 offices. Visit the Ernst & Young web site at http://www.cy.com. Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Services is dedicated to meeting the business needs of growing businesses worldwide

The Entrepreneur Of The Year Institute was created to celebrate the accomplishments for the world's outstanding entrepreneurs. and to make the general public more aware of the benefits they provide to our society. Membership is limited exclusively to regional and national Entrepreneur Of The Year® award recipients.

The Kauffman Center has become a trusted resource for accelerating entrepreneurship in America. Promoting opportunities for entrepreneurs, educators and youth nationwide. The Center is at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the largest foundation supporting entrepreneurship in the United States.

For today's time-pressed, affluent, and influential consumers, USA TODAY is the user-friendly, comprehensive source of communication that informs, educates, and entertains.

The Nasdaq Stock Market is the home of growth companies and is recognized worldwide for listing companies with entrepreneurial spirit. Nasdaq is harnessing technology for the benefit of investors.

Local Sponsors for Kansas & Western Missouri include George K. Baum & Co., Mercantile Bank, the Kansas city Business Journal, KPHN Radio 1190 and sprint Corp.