Award Recognizes Entrepreneurial Excellence in Consumer Products and Services Category
Ridgeland, MS, July 10, 2007 â?¦ SkyGolf, LLC, one of the fastest growing companies in golf and maker of SkyCaddie®, the #1 handheld GPS Rangefinder in Golf, today announced that the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Edmonson, has received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2007 Award, in the Consumer Products and Services category in the Houston and Gulf Coast area.
According to Ernst & Young, the award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic, growing businesses. Richard was selected by an independent panel of judges and the award was presented at an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year gala event at the InterContinental Houston Hotel on June 28, 2007.
"While being truly humbled and honored to receive this prestigious award, my co-founders, Richard Root and Jim Meadows are equally deserving, for it is with their dedication and hard work that this accomplishment was made possible," said Edmonson. "On behalf of the many other deserving entrepreneurs, my thanks go to Ernst & Young and the other sponsors of this award for recognizing the importance of entrepreneurship in growing the economy and creating career opportunities for so many in our work force."
The SkyCaddie, developed by SkyGolf, is already used by golfers in 45 countries around the world on over 15,000 golf courses. Weighing less than 5 ounces, the SkyCaddie utilizes the same global positioning system used by the U.S. Military, but in a highly portable handheld device, about the size of a cell phone, to compute distances to any point on a golf course. SkyGolf uses professional, high-performance GPS engines, satellite-based accuracy augmentation, plus a proprietary, high-precision course database, downloadable via the Internet, to provide golfers with the distances needed to play smarter, faster and have more fun.
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards program celebrates its 21st anniversary this year and continues to honor entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence in such areas as innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.
"Ernst & Young is honored to recognize extraordinary business leaders, such as Richard Edmonson, and the companies they have built," said Doug Bogart, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year program director for the Houston and Gulf Coast area.
As a Houston and Gulf Coast award winner, Richard is now eligible for consideration for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2007 national program. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the overall national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California on November 17, 2007. The national Entrepreneur Of The Year celebration is part of Ernst & Young’s Strategic Growth Forum. The overall national Entrepreneur Of The Year award recipient is then considered for the world event held in Monte Carlo.
Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are pleased to have Bank of America as the national presenting sponsor, as well as SAP America and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation as national sponsors. In the Houston and Gulf Coast area, local sponsors include Bowne of Houston, Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P., and the Houston Business Journal.
About SkyGolf
SkyGolf is a solutions integrator that leverages the convergence of proven technologies, including GPS, Internet, mobile handsets and proprietary content to provide an instant answer to the oldest question in golf, "How far?" While respecting the game’s traditions and history, SkyGolf is committed to using its advanced technology responsibly to improve pace-of-play, enhance golfers’ enjoyment of the game and ultimately increase participation for the good of the game.
About the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards
The Entrepreneur Of The Yearï?¢ awards program was created and is produced by professional services firm Ernst & Young LLP. As the first award of its kind, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Yearï?¢ Award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic and growing businesses. The program, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2006, honors entrepreneurs through regional, national and global award programs in over 125 cities and 40 countries.
About Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young, a global leader in professional services, is committed to enhancing the public’s trust in professional services firms and in the quality of financial reporting. Its 114,000 people in 140 countries pursue the highest levels of integrity, quality, and professionalism in providing a range of sophisticated services centered on our core competencies of auditing, accounting, tax, and transactions. Further information about Ernst & Young and its approach to a variety of business issues can be found at www.ey.com/perspectives. Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, a U.K. company limited by guarantee, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited does not provide services to clients. Ernst & Young LLP is a U.S. client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited.
Contact:
Tiffany Berls (tberls@mastrocomm.com)
Ari Edelman (aedelman@mastrocomm.com)
Mastro Communications, Inc. @ 732-469-5700
