This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

"Entrepreneur of the Year" honors were awarded Saturday to executives of eight Utah companies at a black-tie affair at The Grand America Hotel, sponsored by EY, the accounting firm formerly known as Ernst and Young.

More than 1,000 people attended the regional gala in Salt Lake City, one of many in the 145 cities in 60 countries where the EY Entrepreneur of the Year contest recognizes business leaders who have "disrupted industries, created new product categories and successfully brought innovation and technology to traditional industries."

Honorees and their categories were:

• Nate and Vanessa Quigley, Chatbooks, Inc., Provo — direct-to-consumer products.

• Case Lawrence, CircusTrix, Provo — consumer services.

• Andrew Smith, Four Foods Group, American Fork — real estate, hospitality and construction.

• Stephen Daly, Ivanti, South Jordan — technology

• Karl Sun, Lucid Software, South Jordan — business services.

• Sam Malouf, Malouf, Logan — distribution and manufacturing.

• Tim Ballard, Operation Underground Railroad, Draper — social entrepreneurship.

• Derek Maxfield, Younique, Lehi — retail and consumer products.

Utah's selections will compete in each of those categories and vie for the award as top overall entrepreneur in the U.S. when EY's national awards gala is held Nov. 18 in Palm Springs, Calif.

The overall U.S. winner then advances to the world entrepreneur competition in Monaco in June 2018.

Mike Gorrell