IEI Completes Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Lineup

Release Date: Apr 15, 2009

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Council for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the UMKC Bloch School have announced the remaining honorees for the 24th Annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards dinner.   

In addition to Arthur M. Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, who was named International Entrepreneur of the Year, the following entrepreneurs will also be honored.

John J. Sherman, president and CEO of Kansas City-based Inergy, has been named Regional Entrepreneur of the Year. In late 1996, Sherman and his partners founded Inergy, which has now grown into a broad, diversified energy infrastructure and distribution company. In addition to its retail and wholesale propane business, Inergy is one of the largest independent natural gas storage operators in the Northeastern United States.   

John P. and Susan S. McMeel, co-founders of Andrews McMeel Universal, have been named the recipients of the Marion and John Kreamer Award for Entrepreneurship in Volunteer Community Service. John McMeel is chairman and president of Andrews McMeel, which he co-founded with his wife Susan along with Kathleen and James F. Andrews in 1970. The McMeels have a history of community involvement and philanthropic giving in Kansas City and beyond.  

The Awards Dinner will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8 at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center Exhibit Hall. Honorary dinner chairs for this year’s event are Clark Hunt, chairman of the board, Kansas City Chiefs, and his wife Tavia Hunt, along with Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO, and his wife Diane Canaday Hesse. Proceeds from the dinner benefit the Bloch School’s Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, one of Kansas City’s primary resources for educating and creating the next generation of entrepreneurs.

CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.