EY Announces Chris Ratterman, Founder and CEO of Shady Rays as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 East Central Award Winner

Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates ambitious entrepreneurs who are building a better world

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (June 15, 2023) – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Shady Rays Founder and CEO Chris Ratterman was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 East Central Award winner. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program is one of the preeminent competitive awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. Ratterman was selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous award winners, leading CEOs, investors and other regional business leaders. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

"I am incredibly honored to be recognized alongside so many esteemed entrepreneurs," Shady Rays Founder and CEO Chris Ratterman said. "Every day I get to come to work and continue to build the Shady Rays brand alongside an amazing team. I'm proud to accept this recognition on behalf of all of Team Shady Rays."

For nearly four decades, EY US has honored entrepreneurs whose ambition, courage and ingenuity have driven their companies’ success, transformed their industries and made a positive impact on their communities. Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners become lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs, with exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of program alumni and other ecosystem members in over 60 countries — all supported by vast EY resources. Since 1986, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized more than 11,000 US executives.

As an East Central award winner, Ratterman is now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 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 World Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award in June 2024.

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

• Andreas Bechtolsheim and Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks
• Daymond John of FUBU
• Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani, Inc.
• Holly Thaggard and Amanda Baldwin of Supergoop!
• Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee Company
• James Park of Fitbit
• Jodi Berg of Vitamix
• Joe DeSimone of Carbon, Inc.
• Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC
• Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn Corporation
• Sheila Mikhail of AskBio

Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, N.A.; SAP America; and the Kauffman Foundation. In East Central, sponsors also include Valuation Research Corporation, Donnelley Financial Solutions, and Frost Brown Todd LLC.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National Overall Award winners go on to compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® title. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY Private
As Advisors to the ambitious™, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private.

About EY
EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.