Inventure Foods, Inc. recently announced that its president and CEO, Terry McDaniel, has been honored with an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award in the Mountain Desert region. McDaniel received the top honor in the turnaround category.
The Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award recognizes outstanding high-growth entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. The finalists and winners were selected by an independent panel of judges and honored at a gala event at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, in Denver Colo., on Thursday, June 20, 2013.
McDaniel has served as president and CEO of Inventure Foods since 2008 and has played a pivotal role in creating an atmosphere of product innovation and strategic execution, according to the company. Under his leadership, the company has established a diverse portfolio of better-for-you and indulgent foods, making Inventure the licensing partner of choice within the specialty food category. Inventure now has licensing agreements with several leading brands, including Nathan's Famous®, Jamba® Juice and Seattle's Best Coffee™. McDaniel's efforts in the first few years of his leadership have positioned the company well to focus on high growth business ventures, proactively engage Wall Street and further expand distribution channels. As a result of McDaniel's entrepreneurial leadership style, Inventure Foods continues to seek out new ventures that align with consumer preferences and enhance the company's innovative platform. The company marked 2012 a successful year primarily due to the investments made in prior years and the strategic foresight by McDaniel. Inventure Foods achieved record financial and operational results, which will allow it to seek new ventures, enhance their innovative platform and grow their Healthy/Natural portfolio for years to come, according to the release.
"I am honored to have received this award from Ernst and Young, but it really would not have been possible without the support and hard work of the entire Inventure Foods team that I am privileged to lead and work alongside," said McDaniel, in a prepared statement. "The stability and growth that has occurred at Inventure is the direct result of a clear focus on our vision and a great team effort to execute our plan."
As a regional award winner, McDaniel will now go on to compete at the national level. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the National Entrepreneur Of The Year Overall Award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, Calif., on November 16, 2013. The awards are the culminating event of the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum®, the nation's most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies.
