The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 75

3 A Special Advertising Section Friday, June 22, 2001 A MESSAGE FROM YOUR PROGRAM HOST This marks the 12th year that we have honored our region's outstanding business innovators through the Entrepreneur of the Year Program. The Program has become the premier event the "Academy Award" for entrepreneurs and an occasion for us to recognize the contributions of those whose vision brings vitality to our economy and our community. Many people dream about starting a business. They imagine themselves calling their own shots, setting their own schedules, reaping huge profits and retiring early. But the reality is rarely so idyllic.

As entrepreneur Ramona Arnett once commented, "Being in your own business is working 80 hours a week so that you can avoid working 40 hours a week for someone else." Every one of our finalists knows that reality firsthand. And yet they wouldn't have it any other way. These individuals know what it is to not just to dream, but to put everything on the line for the sake of that dream risking personal funds, working long hours and often leaving highly successful careers to explore an idea, and out of it create something of substance and value. They take enormous chances, risk failure and when they succeed, they provide inspiration for us all. Reviewing this year's finalists, I'm struck by the number of success stories that have punched holes in conventional wisdom.

We've all heard that the technology bubble has burst, so you might think that there are no more opportunities in the industry. Yet high-tech ventures are well represented among our current finalists. Many of these entrepreneurs have found their niche by providing high-end solutions for technology-driven problems. Their companies address specialized needs in e-commerce and the Internet, fiber optics and telecommunications, computer services and software development. Biotechnology is also represented, as new research unveils a pathway to revolutionary opportunities in human healing.

Service industries are flourishing as well, in diverse areas ranging from corporate security to job placement. You'll read about thriving ventures in advertising and office products, computer games and construction services, energy, transportation and more. Taken together, these enterprises illustrate the variety of rich opportunities being developed by today's top entrepreneurs. From the finalists whose ventures are described in the following pages, this year's Entrepreneur of the Year award recipients will be selected by a prestigious, independent panel of judges. Those recipients will be announced at the Awards Banquet on June 26, held once again at the Baltimore Hyatt Regency.

I hope that you will enjoy their stories and share their inspiration. William E. Cole, Jr. Program Host.