M. Conley Entrepreneur of the Year Award Nominees

There was a kid growing up in northern Stark County who was a bit different than the rest. He would do anything for money. Deliver newspapers. Shovel driveways. Cut grass. Wax cars. Fix old tractors,…

The Swiss coat-of-arms on Biery Cheese’s front door hints at a tradition-bound company. The iPad sign-in system in the small lobby suggests a more modern outlook inside. Time spent with Ben Biery, company CEO, dispels…

As luck would have it, the merged Youngstown area bank didn’t have room for the temporary consultant hired to help smooth the transition. So he was shuffled to the nearest empty desk, which happened to…

A young couple asked a hostess at Gervasi Bistro for directions to the elegant party Pavilion they’d heard so much about. Instead of pointing, the hostess took their arms and led them along a bricked…

Elvis is in the building. A man sitting in an office near Akron-Canton airport strikes some computer keys and a robot in the corner of a Dayton, Ohio automotive warehouse, comes to life. Nicknamed “Elvis”…

One day in 1997, Steven Cress and Scott Ricketts were sitting in Akron-Canton Airport when they noticed people going through the airport carrying cases of MID’S. It reminded them of the Coors Beer phenomenon before…

Hard to believe, but parts of Ohio actually exist beyond the internet. Thanks to a Uhrichsville kid in torn blue jeans, those areas are shrinking every day. In 2004, Kyle Quillen was a kid who…

Pat Welden’s kids had a unique birthday tradition. On their special day they rode with Pat in his 1984 Pontiac Bonneville sedan while he made after-dinner rounds delivering fresh donuts to area convenience stores. Birthday…

Executives from one of the world’s major global companies, sat in the Massillon boardroom of Tesla Nanocoatings. They were impressed with the company’s groundbreaking anti-corrosion coating technology, but had a basic question: “Why are you…

In 1999, Brian Bailey had a wife, a new home, a year-old child and a layoff notice from his job at an area software development firm. His take-away from the situation: Never again let someone…

In 1974, the new owner of Stark Sports Cars told his 22-year old head mechanic that he was “earning too much money.” The kid quit the same day. 43 years later it remains one of…

A summer day in 2001 and 21-year old Tommy Sancic stood in the middle of a soybean field outside Minerva staring at his newly delivered wood milling machine. Beside him were some AEP men about…

107 years ago, my great-grandfather, Michael Conley, started a business in Canton, Ohio. He had a big idea, a good work ethic, and the indomitable spirit of an entrepreneur. Men and women like him turned…