When you pour a lot of energy and passion into creating and pushing a company forward, a little recognition can act as the wind in your sails. That is what happened to our Managing Director Jure Širić. He was nominated for the Croatian EY Entrepreneur Of The Year award and, through a series of interviews, ended up being one of the five finalists.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ program was established more than 30 years ago. It operates in more than 60 countries and 145 cities worldwide. Its goal is to search for and recognize entrepreneurial achievement among individuals and companies that demonstrate vision, leadership, and success. Besides business achievements, candidates should also be improving the quality of life in their communities, countries, and around the world.

“Like the previous year, this year too, we mixed an entire spectrum of colors on the same canvas – 33 entrepreneurs from 28 companies. It is a colorful group of entrepreneurship visionaries who have delighted us with their success, work, and unbelievable results. Like artists, once they had an empty canvas in front of them and a vision in their mind, and then by working every day on their canvas, they made their vision into reality”, stated Berislav Horvat, Country Managing Partner for EY Croatia.

So we couldn’t be more proud that our Managing Director, Jure Širić, was one of the finalists for this prestigious reward. The journey to get to that point wasn’t an easy one. Firstly, the company must meet specific business goals before a candidate can enter the selection process. Then, all eyes turn towards the candidate himself. What motivates and drives him, and what exact actions he took to pull the company forward? How did he improve the quality of life and work for its community? Our Jure had a lot to show and share and rightfully passed to the last round.

Check the full interview that got him among the top five:

“It was a great honor to be nominated as a candidate for this prestigious reward. And it is an even bigger honor to be one of the top five entrepreneurs in Croatia. I am delighted that my vision, diligent work ethic, and Modepack’s success have been recognized. And I will use this experience to be an even better version of myself in the future”, said Jure Širić after the ceremony.

Since the first edition, the jury members have been Emil Tedeschi, Saša Cvetojević, and Nenan Bakić. Over the years, some of the previous winners have joined the jury. They include too—Alan Sumina, Mate Rimac, Silvio Kutić, Hrvoje Josip Balen, and Miljenko Borščak. For this year’s edition, Vjekoslav Majetić, Jadranka Boban Pejić, Anita Cvetić Oreščanin, and Dorotea Effenberger also joined the jury. A thought jury, we might say.

“This big entrepreneurship network, to which I’m thankful to EY, can’t be strong enough without connections between entrepreneurs with the same value system. Despite all the differences between us, there is a business codex that manifests itself with the fact that extra seats are always needed for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year award event. Winners come year after year. And we all celebrate the creation of new values. Still, one thing is important – no matter if we are rivals or business partners, in our eyes, success is positioned very high”, said Emil Tedeschi, jury president.

Ivo Usmiani is the winner of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year. He is the founder and owner of JGL Grupe, Croatia’s biggest domestically-owned pharmaceutical company. He will represent Croatia in the world finals in Monaco. We sincerely congratulate him on his victory. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors and will root for him in the finals.