McLean, VA, May 4, 2011 - We are proud to announce that iCore Networks Chairman and CEO Stephen Canton is an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2011 Greater Washington Award finalist. According to Ernst & Young LLP, the awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Stephen Canton was selected as a finalist from more than 100 nominations by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced at a special gala event on June 16 at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner.
"I am thrilled that iCore employees and managers are being recognized as nominees for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award," says Stephen Canton. "This program has recognized many great entrepreneurs over the years and I am proud our iCore team is part of this year's fantastic group of finalists. This is an honor for the company as a whole, as it shows that our hard work, growth and continual pursuit of excellence in providing our clients with innovative, business improvement technology solutions have not gone unnoticed!"
Over the past year alone, we not only expanded our headquarter in McLean, Virginia to a 25,000 square foot facility and opened our completely redundant second Network Operations Center (NOC); we also opened our first satellite office in Columbia, Maryland; grew our user base to over 50,000; continued to grow our Executive Team; continued to secure partnerships to maximize and extend iCore's user reach; expand products and features available to customers (such as full motion, full color, broadcast on demand video solutions). We also continued to invest heavily in the local community with donations to many prestigious organizations like the United Negro College Fund, National Wildlife Federation, Wiley College and Melwood to name a few.
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Program celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 140 cities and more than 50 countries throughout the world. Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Award. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year overall National Award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 12, 2011. 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, which will be held November 9-13, 2011.
About iCore Networks
iCore, a managed networking and Voice over Private Internet (VoPI) company named number 29 on the Inc.500 list, has been recognized as one of the nation’s fastest growing companies by the Washington Business Journal and SmartCEO Magazine. iCore offers small and medium-sized businesses a cost effective, simple solution to their voice and data needs. Unlike VoIP, VoPI provides a managed, secure and hosted end-to-end voice and data system that gives small and medium-sized businesses the same capabilities enjoyed by Fortune 500 companies at a savings over their current voice and data providers. iCore backs those capabilities with the most customer-oriented employees in the industry; unprecedented reliability and disaster recovery tools; and world-class employee support and training. For more information about iCore Networks, please visit http://www.icore.com.
About Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 140 cities in more than 50 countries. For more information about our organization, please visit www.ey.com.