Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) has announced that Chairman & CEO, Kenneth Kelly of First Independence Bank was named an Entrepreneur of the Year® 2024 Michigan and Northwest Ohio Award winner. Entrepreneur of the Year is the preeminent competitive awards program for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies.
Kenneth Kelly was selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous award winners, leading CEOs, and other business leaders. Candidates were evaluated based on their ability to create long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, commitment to their purpose, and the demonstration of growth and substantial impact, among other key indicators.“I am humbled by this recognition. This is a testament to the work that our team is delivering to make a difference,” said Kenneth Kelly, chairman & CEO, First Independence Bank. This prestigious award honors our shareholders, board of directors, management team, and our customers and for that, I am grateful.”
First Independence Bank is the seventh largest Black-owned commercial bank in the United States. Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, with its newest locations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it offers a variety of high-quality banking services from managing accounts to personal loans, mortgages, consumer education, and investments. First Independence Bank has been proudly serving the community since 1970.
As a Michigan and Northwest Ohio regional award winner, Kenneth Kelly is now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 National Awards. The National Award winners, including the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur of the Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the World Entrepreneur of the Year® Award in June 2025.
Entrepreneur Of The Year recognizes many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage, and entrepreneurial spirit. 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 fortify it for the future.
The Entrepreneur of the Year program has recognized the leadership of entrepreneurs such as:
• Daymond John of FUBU
• Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani, Inc.
• Holly Thaggard and Amanda Baldwin of Supergoop!
• Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee Company
• James Park of Fitbit
• Jodi Berg of Vitamix
• Andra Rush of The Rush Group
• Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC
• Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn Corporation
• Sheila Mikhail of AskBio
• Carla Walker-Miller of Walker-Miller Energy Services
• Natalie King of Dunamis Clean Energy Partners
• Greg Williams of Acrisure
• Raj Vattikuti of Altimetrik
• Bruce Smith of Detroit Manufacturing Systems
Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners become lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs. They receive exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight, and wisdom of program alumni and other ecosystem members in more than 60 countries — all supported by vast EY resources. In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ (Winning Women) program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network (EAN) to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network, and access needed to unlock their full potential.
Sponsors Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, Marsh USA, SAP, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In Michigan and Northwest Ohio, sponsors also include regional Gold sponsors, Full View Productions, and regional Silver sponsors, KLA Laboratories, Inc., P.I.E. Management L.L.C., and Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications.
About Entrepreneur of the Year®
Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally.
The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur of the Year® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.
About EY
EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people, and society and build trust in the capital markets. Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform, and operate. Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax, and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today. EY refers to the global organization and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com
About First Independence Bank
First Independence Bank is the seventh largest Black-owned commercial bank in the United States. Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, with its newest locations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it offers a variety of high-quality banking services from managing accounts to personal loans, mortgages, consumer education, and investments. First Independence Bank has four locations and offers banking solutions online and digitally through its mobile app. Established in 1970, the bank continues to be a responsible leader, efficiently serving the financial needs of its community, its businesses, and its customers nationwide. First Independence Bank is a member of FDIC and Equal Housing Lender. For more information visit FirstIndependence.com
For press inquiries, contact Lisa Wilmore, Publicity, The Wilmore Agency at 313-980-4766 or WilmoreAgency@gmail.com