Awesome Inc is proud to announce the inaugural class of the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. The Entrepreneur Hall of Fame is a physical and virtual destination that shares and celebrates the stories of Kentucky's most successful entrepreneurs. We hope to raise awareness of the impact that entrepreneurship has made in the Commonwealth and encourage others to pursue similarly ambitious endeavors.

The idea originated one year ago during Startup Weekend 2009. We thought, wouldn't it be awesome if there was a way to better recognize successful entrepreneurs throughout the Commonwealth. We realized there was no better way to do this than to give exposure to the best of the best and before we knew it we were planning the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. The idea was turned into a ceremonial event by Team Alpha member Bert Berry. We brought on partners to help contact and coordinate with the inductees - Kentucky Student Ventures, KY Small Business and Development Center, KYBizInfo, and KSTC.

The inaugural class induction ceremony will take place on Wednesday, November 17th at 6:00pm at Awesome Inc. The event will be a part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. More information can be found at: entrepreneurhof.com

	John Y Brown Jr. Kentucky Fried Chicken Governor John Y Brown, Jr. and a group of investors purchased Kentucky Fried Chicken from its founder, Colonel Harland Sanders, for $2 million in 1964. Brown grew Kentucky Fried Chicken from 600 to 3,500 franchises. Harvard Business School recognized Governor Brown was one of 100 selected for their business leadership that helped shape the ways that people live, work, and interact.
	Pearse Lyons Alltech Dr. Pearse Lyons is founder and president of Alltech, a company that employs over 1,900 people in 91 countries. Lyons founded Alltech in 1980, and today the company is a leading animal health company with group sales approaching $400 million.
	William T. Young W.T. Young Foods Inc & Overbrook Farm In 1946, William T. Young founded W.T. Young Foods, Inc which created Big Top Peanut Butter. In 1955, he sold it to Proctor & Gamble, and it is now known by the name Jif. In 1972 Young established Overbrook Farm. He was a prominent owner and breeder of thoroughbreds including Kentucky Derby and Breeders Cup winners.
	Warren Rosenthal, Jerrico Long John Silvers / Jerry's Restaurant Warren W. Rosenthal joined Jerrico, Inc. in 1948 when it consisted of two hamburger stands and a sandwich shop. In 1957 he became CEO and launched a program to franchise Jerry's Restaurants that later grew to over 1,350 Long John Silver's.
	John Schnatter Papa John's International, Inc John Schnatter opened his first Papa John's restaurant in 1984. There are now more than 3,100 Papa John's restaurants in all 50 states and 29 countries.
	Jim Host Host Communications and Printing Starting from scratch in 1972, Jim Host built Host Communications into the preeminent college sports-marketing firm in the country.
	Ralph G Anderson Belcan Ralph G. Anderson founded Belcan, one of the nation's largest engineering firms with annual sales of almost $500 million and more than 7,500 employees worldwide.
	Davis Marksbury Exstream Software In 1998 Exstream Software was founded by Davis Marksbury and his partner Dan Kloiber, the original developers of StreamWeaver, a leading print stream processing product. Exstream was acquired by HP in 2008.
	Lee Todd Projectron Inc, DataBeam Corp., and President, UK UK President Lee Todd founded two high-technology firms, DataBeam and Projectron. DataBeam developed and manufactured high-resolution teleconferencing systems in the early days of this technology, and was sold to IBM in 1998.

Emerging Entrepreneurs