Riverside, Calif., November 9, 2011 – An audience of nearly 600 business and community leaders gathered last night to celebrate and honor eight Inland Empire entrepreneurs during the 9th Annual Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards, an event recognizing the leadership, innovation and business acumen of entrepreneurs.

“Each year we find out just how deep the entrepreneurial talent pool of the Inland Empire is,” said Dr. Mike Stull, founding organizer of the event and director of Cal State San Bernardino’s Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship. “The number of unique companies and inspiring success stories continues to amaze us.”

This year’s award recipients recognized at the black-tie gala, chosen from 25 finalists, include:

Consulting Entrepreneur

• Lisa Ramsey – Medi-Cal Consulting Services, Inc. – Riverside

Family Business

• William Land III and Laura Land – Accessory Export, LLC – Riverside

General Entrepreneur

• Scott Whipple & John Gordon – Canidae All Natural Pet Food – Norco

Innovator Entrepreneur

• Eddie Boyd & Walter Boyd – MacroAir Technologies, Inc. – San Bernardino

Manufacturing Entrepreneur

• Rodney & Elma Eaton – California Cart Builder – Lake Elsinore

Service-Based Entrepreneur

• Mike & Kim Jones – The RehabAbilities Family of Companies – Rancho Cucamonga

Small Enterprise

• Christiana Grammer & Rebecca Grammer-Ybarra – Suite 106 Cupcakery, LLC – Rancho Cucamonga

Social Entrepreneur

• Barbara Wormser – Inland Harvest – Redlands

The event also featured the presentation of the 2011 Spirit of the Entrepreneur Lifetime Achievement award to Jack H. Brown, who for 30 years led Stater Bros. Markets of San Bernardino, transforming from a small regional grocery chain to a $4 billion company.

In addition, Scott and Beverly Bailey of Stronghold Engineering were recognized with a special “Master Entrepreneur” award that is given to individuals that have built their company into clear industry leaders, achieved significant growth and sales volume in excess of $50 million, and might be considered a medium to large sized corporation.

As part of the event festivities, the Garner Holt Student Fast Pitch Competition was held for five future entrepreneurs to deliver a 90-second pitch about their up-and-coming venture idea to the audience and were critiqued on their overall preparation, poise and professional presentation. The top three pitches were recognized and the top student, Gareth Pronovost, walked away with a $4,000 prize. The fast pitch, which involves students from Cal State San Bernardino, is sponsored by local entrepreneur Garner Holt of San Bernardino. Holt’s company, Garner Holt Productions, is the world’s leading manufacturer of Animatronics & Animatronic Figures.

The Spirit of the Entrepreneur event was presented by the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship at California State University San Bernardino and sponsored by a wide range of local organizations including The San Bernardino Sun/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/Redlands Daily Facts, Inland Empire magazine, Business Alliance, County of Riverside, Best Best & Krieger LLP, County of San Bernardino, Citizens Business Bank, Bank of America and others.