We’re thrilled to announce that our CEO Dave Shaffer has been named a finalist for the second year in a row in Ernst & Young’s 2012 Entrepreneur of the Year® Awards.
Now in its 26th year, the award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Of the 2011 Finalists last year, Dave was unique in representing one of the very few nonprofit organizations honored for its entrepreneurial thinking.
Dave is a firm believer in the notion that solving business problems is the most effective way to solve the large social problem of the lack of employment opportunities for people with disabilities. By focusing on meeting or exceeding business expectations, Dave holds himself and the organization to a high standard of accountability: If the business is not viable, the mission won’t be, either.
By restructuring the way DePaul Industries represents itself as a social entrepreneurial organization—between business and nonprofit—Dave has had to weigh risks of alienating constituents in the nonprofit world or the business world, or in both. This is a delicate balance of communicating, and delivering, the benefits of a combination of these worlds. Dave is keenly aware of this organizational pull in both directions and has been persistent in embedding DePaul right in the center. His ability to recognize the ‘money vs. mission’ conflict as an omnipresent ‘check’ on operations has launched DePaul into the forefront of the social entrepreneurial space.
Awards will be presented at a special gala on June 15, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored in the United States by SAP America and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In the Pacific Northwest, local sponsors include ADP, Puget Sound Business Journal, Scherzer International, The Big Picture Video Film & Arts, and Union Bank.
