Ernst & Young LLP has announced that Standard Meat Co. Co-President and CEO Ben Rosenthal and Co-President Ashli Rosenthal Blumenfeld have been named Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 Southwest Award winners. Entrepreneur Of The Year is a competitive awards program for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. 

Rosenthal and Blumenfeld, siblings in the family-owned and -operated Standard Meat Co., were selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous award winners, leading CEOs and other business leaders. Candidates were evaluated based on their ability to create long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, commitment to their purpose and the demonstration of growth and substantial impact, among other key indicators.

“We are deeply humbled and honored to receive this award,” said Rosenthal. “Being recognized among so many outstanding companies who were nominated and advanced as finalists is a tremendous privilege. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team.”

“Our purpose, 'to inspire the connections and breakthroughs that ultimately feed our life,' guides us daily,” said Blumenfeld. “As a multi-generational, family-owned company, we view our team as extended family, fostering deep connections that also extend to our customers and suppliers. Ben and I are honored to celebrate this award with them.”  

Founded in 1935 and headquartered at the Stockyards in Fort Worth, Standard Meat Co. is a meat processing and packaging firm with plants in Dallas, Fort Worth, Saginaw and Ponder, Texas. The company is a global supplier of custom meat portioning and packaging solutions for the foodservice and retail industries.

“We appreciate that EY recognizes that while we are a 4th generation company, we are a ‘90-year-old startup’ at the same time,” said Rosenthal. “Ashli and I are doing things our own way, but we maintain the same entrepreneurial spirit that our dad had, as well as those who came before him.”

As Southwest Award winners, Rosenthal and Blumenfeld are now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 National Awards. The National Award winners, including the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November 2024 at the Strategic Growth Forum, a gathering 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 2025.  

Entrepreneur Of The Year recognizes many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future. 

Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners become lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs. They receive exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of program alumni and other ecosystem members in more than 60 countries — all supported by vast EY resources.

In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY U.S. supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network and access needed to unlock higher potential. 

Source: Standard Meat Co.