NEW YORK, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Ernst & Young LLP is proud to announce the nine winners of the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women(TM) competition, an annual program designed to accelerate the growth of high-potential businesses founded by women entrepreneurs. The winners were selected from a competitive pool of applicants residing across the US by a diverse group of independent judges. They will participate in a customized program designed to build and foster critical relationships, enhance leadership skills and expand business know-how. For more information on the competition, visit www.ey.com/us/entrepreneurialwinningwomen.

"Ernst & Young LLP created the annual Entrepreneurial Winning Women program to help successful women entrepreneurs realize the full potential they envision for their companies," said Maria Pinelli, Americas Director, Strategic Growth Markets, Ernst & Young LLP. "Through the program, we aim to give outstanding female entrepreneurs targeted and customized knowledge and business insights as well as access to highly influential networks of investors, advisors, and top entrepreneurs to quickly accelerate the growth of their businesses."

The nine winners receive complimentary participation in the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum 2009, which takes place November 11-15, 2009 in Palm Springs, Calif. The Strategic Growth Forum, dubbed by Forbes.com as one of the "Seven Get-Ahead Executive Retreats," brings together more than 1,300 of the nation's most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders to share growth strategies and discuss current economic challenges. Speakers this year include business luminaries such as Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com; Angela Braly, President and CEO, Wellpoint Inc.; David Liu, CEO of The Knot Inc.; Patrick Lo, Chairman and CEO of NETGEAR; Jim McCann, Founder and CEO of 1800flowers.com; and H. Lee Scott, Jr., Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

This year's Entrepreneurial Winning Women award recipients are:

    --  Carole Borden | C.B. Transportation (Chester Springs, Penn. ) provides
        single-source trucking and distribution management services throughout
        North America. By linking major manufacturers and retailers with an
        extensive network of trucking companies, railroads and warehouse
        facilities, C.B. Transportation offers price stabilization and greater
        visibility and control with a broader range of equipment and services
        than carriers alone provide. With the company experiencing double-digit
        growth in the last three years, Carole expects C.B. Transportation to
        triple in size over the next five years and to be among the most
        prestigious transportation providers in the nation.

    --  Michelle Tunno Buelow | Bella Tunno (Charlotte, N.C.) is a baby and
        children's "necessory" company dedicated to the balance of
        fashion, function and philanthropy. With three fully owned brands, a
        licensing partnership and multiple international distribution partners,
        the company offers funky and fun baby basics that are sold in more than
        4,000 upscale boutiques and department stores internationally. With
        benevolence at its core, Bella Tunno donates a portion of all proceeds
        to the Matt Tunno Make a Difference Fund. Moving forward, Bella Tunno
        intends to introduce its disposable baby product line in grocery and
        restaurant channels, launch additional subbrand partnerships and create
        a celebrity-designed charitable line.

    --  Sherry Stewart Deutschmann | LetterLogic (Nashville, Tenn.) is a premium
        letter shop providing printing and mailing services for businesses
        nationwide. Since starting operations out of a basement in 2002, the
        company now occupies a 27,000-square-foot facility and serves clients in
        41 states. LetterLogic's mission and culture of putting employees first
        has resulted in unprecedented success and growth with 100% client
        retention. Entrepreneur magazine named LetterLogic one of the Top 50
        Fastest-Growing Female-Led Businesses in North America in 2007 and 2008.
        Sherry expects to grow the company to annual revenues of $100 million by
        2018.

    --  Talia Mashiach | Eved Services (Chicago, Ill.) is a software-enabled
        service company providing comprehensive, event and destination
        management. Having operated as an in-house partner for more than 30
        Chicago-area venues since 2004, Eved uses its proprietary technology to
        work seamlessly with event companies and hotels to select and manage
        vendors on a one-stop basis. Customers range from major corporations and
        destination planning companies to small, independent hospitality
        businesses. Eved is now evolving into a software-as-a-service company. 
        Talia expects that nationwide and global deployment of the company's
        proven technology platform will lead to significant growth over the next
        five years.

    --  Karen Pecora-Barbour | The Barbour Group LLC (Westminster, Md.) is a
        commercial insurance and bonding agency specializing in construction
        bonds and related services. As the first woman-founded surety agent in
        the state of Md., The Barbour Group provides bonding and insurance to
        contractors for projects located throughout the US and internationally
        through the U.S. Department of State. The company has initiated,
        authored and driven landmark legislation in Md.  and on Capitol Hill to
        open up the barriers to bonding faced by many small business
        contractors. The Barbour Group has been named among the Top 100 Minority
        Business Enterprises in 2006 and 2008, with Pecora-Barbour awarded the
        U.S. SBA Person of The Year Award in 2008.

    --  Vicki Raport | Quantum Retail Technology (Minneapolis, Minn.) creates
        and delivers advanced software solutions to solve the demands of modern
        retail. The company's proprietary inventory management solutions quickly
        optimize forecasting and advanced order planning, replenishment and
        allocation and assortment and product range planning activities. With
        its customers typically achieving significant and measurable return on
        investment within six months of implementation, Quantum enables large
        retailers to improve the performance of every product at every store to
        drive sales and profits, increase service levels and release working
        capital. In 2009, Inc. magazine ranked Quantum Retail the eleventh
        fastest-growing, privately-owned software company -- with a three-year
        growth rate of 963.4%.

    --  Shabnam Rezaei | Big Bad Boo (New York, N.Y.) is a media production and
        distribution company dedicated to teaching children about different
        cultures through entertainment. With offices in New York, Los Angeles
        and Vancouver, the company's first animated TV series, Mixed Nutz, will
        debut on PBS and many other stations worldwide this January. The
        creative team's first direct-to-DVD product, Babak & Friends - A
        First Norooz, told the story of little Babak who is stuck between his
        Iranian and American cultures and featured Emmy Award winner Shohreh
        Aghdashloo. Big Bad Boo is currently in production on 26 episodes of a
        new series, 1001 Nights, and is launching its online retail distribution
        channel at oznoz.com.

    --  Jennifer L. Scully | Clinical Resources LLC (Atlanta, Ga.) is a
        healthcare staffing company specializing in the growing senior care
        market. The company places experienced nurses and healthcare
        professionals in permanent, temporary and interim positions nationwide
        in hospitals, skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. Clinical
        Resources continues to expand its customer base among health payers,
        pharmaceutical companies, and health information technology companies.
        For 2010, the company is on pace to build critical mass in its service
        areas and to expand its presence in large corporations providing
        occupational health nurses, as well as pursuing government contracting
        opportunities.

    --  Susan Wilson | The Judgment Group (Stevensville, Md.) purchases,
        enforces and recovers portfolios of unpaid court-ordered money
        judgments. Having pioneered the recovery of distressed assets to support
        the civil justice system, The Judgment Group's proprietary solution
        combines advances in personal information and technology to locate where
        judgment debtors bank, work and own property. The company then navigates
        and leverages the power of the legal system to garnish, lien and levy
        those assets to get judgments paid and justice served. A winner of
        American Express and Count Me In's Make Mine a Million $ Business award,
        The Judgment Group was named one of Working Mother magazine's Best
        Women-Owned Companies for 2008. Looking ahead, the company is focused on
        creating a secure technology-driven trading platform to buy and sell
        personal information.

"Our research and experience clearly demonstrates the benefits of experienced role models and access to business-building networks for women entrepreneurs looking to jumpstart their company's growth and success," noted Billie Williamson, Ernst & Young LLP's Americas Inclusiveness Officer. "This competition merges Ernst & Young's long-standing support of entrepreneurs worldwide with the firm's internal and external efforts around inclusiveness and women's advancement."

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women program is conducted in collaboration with several women's business organizations and universities including the Women's Presidents Organization, Women's Business Enterprise National Council, the Committee of 200, Babson College and its Center for Women's Leadership and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. For more information on the program, visit www.ey.com/us/entrepreneurialwinningwomen.

The distinguished panel of judges for the 2009 competition included:

    --  Renee Amoore, President and CEO, The Amoore Group
    --  Nancy Briefs, President & CEO, Eleme Medical
    --  Janet Chien, Founder & Principal, Dyad Systems and Ernst & Young
        Entrepreneurial Winning Women 2008 participant
    --  Lyn Kirby, President & CEO, ULTA
    --  Pamela O'Rourke, President, ICON Information Consultants
    --  Laura Pearl, Managing Director, Ceres Venture Fund
    --  Bernee Strom, Chairman and CEO, WebTuner
    --  Kathleen Utecht, Founder, Cahootie by Green Rock Entertainment and Ernst
        & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women 2008 participant

About Ernst & Young's Strategic Growth Markets Practice

The Strategic Growth Markets (SGM) practice guides high-growth companies to market leadership worldwide. Our multidisciplinary teams of dedicated professionals provide perspective, advice, and insights to help our clients accelerate their growth. Ernst & Young is the undisputed leader in guiding Russell 3000 companies, IPO-bound companies and Forbes' largest private companies. SGM delivers assurance and advisory, tax, and transaction advisory services to thousands of companies in numerous, selected industries.

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