Last Wednesday, November 16, Awesome Inc. was proud to host its second annual Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. The ceremony lasted about two hours and honored five entrepreneurs from four different organizations, all with roots to Kentucky.

The event had a formal feel to it, with about a half hour dedicated to H’orderves and networking in the beginning. After a short time, however, the induction ceremony got started by Director of Awesome Labs and BuildingLayer founder Nick Such, as he made a statement about how the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame started.

“The hall of fame began with an idea, to inspire the next great generation of entrepreneurs. The idea turned into a list … and all of a sudden this idea, just like a company, came into a reality. First and foremost it is to recognize the people who have made great contributions not only to the business world but also the commonwealth of Kentucky,” Such said.

Members of the 2011 Hall of Fame class are Dana Bowers, iPay technologies; David Jones Sr. and Wendell Cherry, Humana; Kent Taylor, Texas Roadhouse; and Bill Samuels Jr., Makers mark.

Dana Bowers: Dana worked in a bank for nine years. Eventually she found herself unemployed and started her first company. In her statement she said that she never wanted to become an entrepreneur and was just looking for a job. Eventually, she had a chance to start a company.

 In 2001, Bowers, along with her husband, Mike, founded iPay Technologies. During her tenure at iPay, Dana served as CEO and as a member of the board of directors. The company grew to become the largest independent electronic bill pay provider in the US. In June of 2010, iPay was sold for $300 million.

“I’m just humbled to be on the wall with these names,” Bowers said.

David Jones Sr. (unable to attend): Jones got his business degree from the University of Louisville in 1954. Along with Wendell Cherry, he co-founded Extendicare as a nursing home company. In 1974 the name was changed to Humana Inc. In its March 2008 issue, Fortune Magazine named Humana one of the top 5 Most Admired Healthcare Companies in the US. By 2010, Humana was employing over 28,000 people. In 2011, Humana reached a market cap of over $14 Billion.  Additionally, they’re a Fortune 100 company with a customer base of over 11.5 million.

Wendell Cherry (deceased): Wendell Cherry was born in Kentucky’s Hart County. He graduated from the University of Kentucky and its law school. Wendell Cherry co-founded Humana with David Jones Sr. Jones died in 1991 of lung cancer. He was 55.

Kent Taylor: In 1990, Taylor moved from Colorado back to Louisville and founded and co-owned Buckhead Bar and Grill. In 1993, Taylor founded Texas Roadhouse. By 2010, Texas Roadhouse was doing over $1 billion in revenue and reached a market cap over $1.25 billion.

Taylor was introduced by good friend and 2010 inductee, Papa John’s founder John Schnatter. Schnatter said that he’s applied the Texas Roadhouse culture to Papa John’s, which revolves around “fantastic people.” He also gave praise to his long time friend.

“He’s built a fantastic company. He’s well deserving of the award. I’m very lucky to have him and his family in my life,” Schnatter said of Taylor.

In his acceptance speech, a reflective Taylor offered advice on tenacity to aspiring entrepreneurs.

“To you younger folks, three of the (first) five stores we opened failed. But if you keep trying, hopefully one day it will work out for you.”

Bill Samuels Jr.: Makers Mark was founded in 1954 by Bill Samuels Sr. Bill Samuels Jr. is a seventh generation distiller. Samuels Jr. became president of Makers Mark in 1975, offering a smoother, less bitter taste.  In 1980, it was the first distillery in America to be recognized as a National Historic Landmark. The brand is well known because of their unique branding, many know Makers Mark as the bourbon with a red wax bottle top. In his acceptance speech, Samuels gave much of the credit to his family.

“Mom and Dad created Makers Mark, it wasn’t me. They did all of the heavy lifting.”

Despite his humbleness, it should be noted that Samuels turned the operation into one of the most recognizable brands in the world, helping it surpass 1 million cases bottled for the first time in 2010.

When Samuels was thinking of his greatest accomplishment, he thought of the time that he and former UK basketball coach Tubby Smith got together and raised money for the coach’s foundation.

“Tubby said to me it would be a good idea if I would help raise some money for his foundation. We had a couple more drinks and it got to be a pretty good idea. I mentioned it to the master distiller. He said that we have a problem because we didn’t have any extra whisky and that we would do it next year,” Samuels said. “We went on to offer 10,000 empty bottles at full retail price and people lined up to buy them.”

Samuels Jr. retired earlier this year. His son, Rob, is now president.

“I want to thank you all. It’s been a great 45 years. Thank you much,” Samuels said. “People who have helped us financially, we want to grow this. We’ve had a great last year and a wonderful 2011. We want to grow this organization and include more people in the process.”

In addition to the Hall of Fame class of 2011, the ceremony also recognized five emerging entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs and their companies are as follows:

Webalytics, CEO Wayne Yeager. Webalytics is based out of Lexington, KY. They make custom analytic tools for companies. 

GlowTouch, President Vidya Ravichandran. GlowTouch is a software development company that provides custom and packaged technology solutions to meet various client requirements. Headquartered in Louisville, GlowTouch was in the Inc 500 last year; an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the US. GlowTouch employs over 850 people across the world.

SingleHop, CEO Zak Boca. Boca, a Western Kentucky University alumnus, bases his company out of Chicago.  SingleHop provides managed and unmanaged web hosting services to small businesses. It was ranked number 25 in the Inc. 500 for 2011.

Rooibee Red Tea, CTeaO (Chief Tea Officer) Heather Howell. Based out of Louisville, Rooibee Red Tea is the only full line of red tea in the country. The brand is USDA certified organic, gluten-free, caffeine free and considered extremely rich in antioxidants. The company imports Rooibos out of South Africa which enables its health benefits.

University of Kentucky alumnus and Backupify CEO Rob May. According to its website, Backupify is the leading backup provider for cloud based data, offering an all-in-one archiving, search and restore service for the most popular online services including Google Apps, Facebook, Twitter and more.

Awesome Inc. would like to thank its sponsors for helping host the event. Sponsors are: Sustainable Business Ventures, Kentucky Small Business Development Center, Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation, Hanna Resource Group and Global Entrepreneurship Week. 

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