Salt Lake City— Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) recently announced that CEO and co-founder Davis Smith and COO and co-founder Stephan Jacob of Cotopaxi were named an Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2020 Utah Region Award winner. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program is one of the preeminent competitive awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. The award recognizes those entrepreneurial leaders who are excelling in overcoming adversity; financial performance; societal impact and commitment to building a values-based company; innovation; and talent management. Smith and Jacob were selected by an independent panel of judges. The award was announced through the program’s first-ever virtual awards gala, hosted by Deborah Norville, anchor of Inside Edition, on October 6, 2020. 

“Stephan and I are honored to receive this award and to represent our home state of Utah in the entrepreneurial business space,” said Cotopaxi CEO Davis Smith. “Cotopaxi is founded on a unique impact driven model, and we are committed to not only creating products and opportunities to facilitate outdoor adventure, but also to humanitarian work and substantial accountability for brands and individuals in their everyday consumer choices.”

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has honored the inspirational leadership of entrepreneurs such as: 

• Joe DeSimone of Carbon, Inc.
• Howard Schultz of Starbucks Corporation
• Pierre Omidyar of eBay, Inc.
• Jodi Berg of Vitamix
• Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn
• Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani
• Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC
• Andreas Bechtolsheim and Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks
• James Park of Fitbit
• Daymond John of Fubu 

As a Utah Region award winner, Davis Smith and Stephan Jacob are now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020 National Awards. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced Thursday, November 19, during a virtual awards gala. The awards are the culminating event of this year’s virtual Strategic Growth Forum^®, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in June 2021. 

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored by SAP America and the Kauffman Foundation.

In the Utah Region, sponsors also include Diversified Insurance Group, Strong & Hanni Law Firm, Silicon Slopes, Truss, & The Community Foundation of Utah.

About Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi is an outdoor gear brand and Benefit Corporation with a social mission. With two storefronts and a strong ecommerce platform, and employing over 80 staff members, we offer conscious customers responsibly designed apparel whose sales support our mission to alleviate poverty. Through the Cotopaxi Foundation, the company has awarded more than 60 traceable grants to vetted organizations on the front lines of addressing poverty. For more information please visit https://www.cotopaxi.com