Dallas, TX, [Apr. 18 2024] – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Daniel Powell, CEO and Founder of Spark Biomedical was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Southwest Award finalist. Now in its 38th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive business award for audacious leaders who disrupt markets, revolutionize sectors, and have a transformational impact on lives. Over the past four decades, the program has recognized the daring entrepreneurs with big ideas and bold actions that reshape our world.
Daniel Powell was one of 47 regional entrepreneurs selected as finalists by an independent panel of judges. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.
“I am immensely honored to be nominated for EY Entrepreneur of the Year,” Powell said. “This award is a testament to the entire team at Spark Biomedical that works tirelessly to bring our life-saving therapy to individuals struggling with opioid use disorder. It is humbling to be a finalist among so many great leaders and organizations, and inspiring to see how our innovations are shaping a brighter future.”
Entrepreneur Of The Year honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.
Regional award winners will be announced on June 15, 2024 during a special celebration and will become lifetime members of an esteemed community of Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni from around the world. The winners will then be considered by the National judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.
In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network and access needed to unlock their full potential.
Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In the Southwest program, sponsors also include Platinum sponsors DFIN and Haynes and Boone LLP, Gold sponsors BGSF, Marsh and Roach Howard Smith & Barton and Silver sponsors Big Picture Inc., Pierpont Communications and The Slate.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally.
The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.
About EY
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About Spark Biomedical
Spark Biomedical, Inc. is a leading U.S.-based wearable neurostimulation solutions developer devoted to the life-saving work of helping 36.3 million people worldwide overcome withdrawal, heal from addiction, and achieve the better quality of life they deserve. With opioid-related misuse and overdose deaths on the rise, the company’s mission is to eliminate opioid use disorder by working to address the full lifecycle, including withdrawal management, opioid-sparing, relapse prevention, and PTSD/trauma abatement.
Spark Biomedical is helping patients take the first step of overcoming acute opioid withdrawal with its FDA-cleared wearable technology, the Sparrow Ascent— Transcutaneous Auricular Neurostimulation (tAN®) for Opioid Withdrawal Relief. Sparrow Ascent provides an easy, safe, and effective drug-free treatment option supported by clinical evidence. Next steps are underway with the launch of two NIDA-funded clinical trials to improve adult relapse rates and help infants suffering from Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS).
For more information please contact Udim Obot at udim.obot@sparkbiomedical.com
