Seven locals named Entrepreneur of the Year in annual EY honors
Seven Wasatch Front business leaders have been named to Ernst & Young’s (EY US) Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 Mountain West Award list. EY US said these Utah businesspeople are being honored as “visionary leaders of high-growth companies driving innovation, growth and prosperity for future generations.”
EY US’s Mountain West program recognizes entrepreneurs from Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. This year marks 40 years of the honors.
Regional winners were selected by an independent panel of past winners, CEOs and business leaders. Judges evaluated candidates on long-term value creation, entrepreneurial spirit, purpose-driven commitment and significant growth and impact.
Those honored from Utah are Grant Quasha, CEO of Eco Material Technologies Inc. in South Jordan; Karalynne Call, founder of Just Ingredients Inc. in Orem; David Layton, president and CEO of Layton Construction Co. in Sandy; Ryan Porter, founder, president and CEO of LiveView Technologies Inc. in American Fork; Tommy Higham and Will Higham, co-founders of Lehi’s Lola Blankets; and John Lippert, founder and chief technology officer of Scientia Vascular Inc. in West Valley City.
“Entrepreneur of the Year honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit,” said an EY US release accompanying the announcement. “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 strengthen it for the future.”
“The Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 Mountain West Award winners are trailblazers who redefine excellence and set new benchmarks in their industries,” said Shawn Goff, partner and Entrepreneur of the Year Mountain West program co-director. “They set the standard for scaling businesses while prioritizing their employees, customers and communities.”
As Mountain West award winners, regional winners are now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 National Awards. The national winners, including the Entrepreneur of the Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum in Palm Springs, California. That winner will move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award in June 2026.
Founded in 1986 and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa LLC, Marsh USA and SAP. In the Mountain West region, sponsors also include Perkins Coie, Strong & Hanni law firm, Truss, Big Picture, Pierpont Communications and Silicon Slopes.