Thirteen business leaders were named by EY as the 2022 Entrepreneurs of the Year for New Jersey at an awards banquet Wednesday night.

The EY Entrepreneur of the Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who think big to succeed.

EY officials said the cohort of esteemed entrepreneurial leaders was selected by an independent judging panel comprised of award alumni, leading CEOs, investors and other regional business leaders.

The winners were evaluated based on their demonstration of long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

As a regional award winner, all entrepreneurs will be considered by national judges for the Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 National Awards, which will be presented in November. The Entrepreneur of the Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award in June 2023.

The winners for the Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 New Jersey Award:

• Manish Krishnan, founder and CEO, Advanced Technology Consulting Service, Montvale
• Gillian Bleimann and Kim Bleimann, CEO and chairman, Berje Inc., Carteret
• Thomas Jacob, CEO, Blue Sea Products LLC, Pennington
• Emre Imamoglu, CEO, Cibo Vita, Totowa
• Patrick Ryan, CEO, First Bank, Trenton
• Danai Brooks, CEO, Komline-Sanderson Corp., Peapack
• Adriana Carrig, founder and CEO, Little Words Project, Caldwell
• Robert Rapuano, CEO, Ned Stevens, Fairfield
• Raj Patil, CEO, Orion Innovation, Summit
• Samuel Gutmann, CEO, OwnBackup, Englewood
• Bharat Rana, CEO, ProSmile, Toms River
• John Beacham, CEO, Toorak Capital Partners, Summit

Entrepreneur of the Year Award winners become lifetime members of an esteemed community of multi-industry award winners, granting them unlimited access to the experience, insight and wisdom of fellow alumni across over 60 countries, in addition to extensive support from EY resources and other members of the entrepreneurial community.

Since its launch, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries throughout the world who are building a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous world for all.

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