This year’s Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards event, which recognizes the top business owners of the Inland Empire region, will feature a unique new award - The “Best of the Best.”

Conceived by event sponsor Best Best & Krieger LLP (BB&K) and the event’s presenter the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE) at Cal State San Bernardino, the award is deigned to recognize the “best” entrepreneur from among the 2012 award recipients. This year 25 finalists are competing to receive awards in eight (8) different categories.

“The Best of the Best will be the person from among those eight award recipients that best exemplifies what it means to be an entrepreneur,” said Glen Price, partner in BB&K’s Riverside office and an advisory board member of the Center for Entrepreneurship. “We wanted to look at each award recipient in terms of taking risks and building a successful enterprise that creates jobs and value where none existed before.”

The Best of the Best Award will be presented at the conclusion of the Spirit of the Entrepreneur event on November 7 at the Ontario Convention Center. The award was selected by a special group of judges that included past Spirit award recipients and a representative from BB&K.

“We are very excited to add this new award to the Spirit Awards program,” said Mike Stull, director of the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship and founder of the event. “It adds another unique aspect to the event and is a tribute to the level of support and commitment that Best Best & Krieger is making to entrepreneurs in the Inland Empire.”

“To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the program and the inaugural year of the new award, the “Best of the Best” award will be presented by Eric Garner, the managing partner of Best Best & Krieger and Allison MacKenzie, the Chief Executive Officer of Babcock Laboratories, a client of BB&K and former Spirit Awards recipient,” added Price.

Best Best & Krieger, a full-service law firm with more than 200 attorneys in nine offices across California and in Washington, D.C., has been a sponsor of the Spirit of the Entrepreneur since 2008. The firm delivers effective, timely and service-oriented solutions to complex legal issues facing public agencies, businesses and individuals.

The 10th Annual Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards program is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012 at the Ontario Convention Center. The gala includes a cocktail reception, dinner, entertainment and awards. For more information or to make reservations, call (909) 537-3708.