EY US announces Greg Lignelli as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2025 East Central Award winner

CINCINNATI, June 13, 2025 – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Greg Lignelli, President and COO of System One, was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 East Central Award winner. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive awards program for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. For 40 years, EY US has celebrated ambitious entrepreneurs who are transforming industries, impacting communities and creating long-term value.

Greg Lignelli was chosen by an independent panel of past winners, top CEOs and business leaders. Judges assessed candidates on long-term value creation, entrepreneurial spirit, purpose-driven commitment and significant growth and impact.

As East Central award winner, Lignelli is now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 National Awards. The National Award winners, including the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum^®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. 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 2026.

Entrepreneur Of The Year recognizes many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to strengthen it for the future.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized the leadership of entrepreneurs such as:

• Sheila Mikhail of AskBio
• Caryn Seidman Becker and Ken Cornick of CLEAR
• James Park of Fitbit
• Arthur Blank of The Home Depot
• Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC
• Reed Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn
• Saiju Jeong of Noom
• Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee Company
• Jodi Berg of Vitamix
• Michael Happe of Winnebago Industries

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, LLC, Marsh USA, and SAP. In East Central, sponsors also include regional Platinum sponsors, DFIN (Donnelly Financial Solutions) and VRC (Valuation Research Corporation).

About Entrepreneur Of The Year                                                                                                                       

Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 60 countries globally.

The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum^® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY

EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multi-disciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.

All in to shape the future with confidence.

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About System One

System One is a leading provider of specialized, highly technical outsourced services and workforce solutions to critical infrastructure, technology, life sciences, and government sectors. We are a trusted and essential partner to large private and public organizations—mobilizing specialized, highly technical resources and expertise to execute their most complex, mission-critical programs and accelerate results. Founded more than 40 years ago as a staffing partner to the engineering industry, today System One is a diversified organization operating in over 50 locations and putting more than 9,000 people to work in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. More information is available at https://systemone.com/.