(AUSTIN, Texas – June 23, 2008) Catapult Systems founder and CEO, Sam Goodner, received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® 2008 Award for Central Texas. According to Ernst & Young, the award recognizes men and women who excel at growing and sustaining market-leading businesses. Goodner was honored at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year gala at the Austin Renaissance Hotel on May 29th, 2008.
“The Entrepreneur of the Year Program, despite its name, is really not an individual award; it’s a team award. I am fortunate to work with an incredibly talented group of people at Catapult Systems,” said Goodner.
Goodner founded Catapult Systems in 1993 at the age of 26 with only a few thousand dollars in his bank account. Goodner initially created an IT consulting firm as a means of funding a software products company. After several years of trial and error, in 1997 Catapult created its flagship enterprise product, Inquisite, which it eventually spun-off as a successful independent company in 2007. The IT consulting business continued to grow and thrive, and has become a leading Microsoft National Systems Integrator with offices in Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Tampa and Denver.
Catapult Systems has experienced extraordinary growth over the past 15 years, and has managed to maintain a low employee turnover rate. These achievements, among others, have earned Catapult Systems the #1 Best Place to Work in Austin by the Austin Business Journal and the #2 Best Companies to Work For in Texas by Texas Monthly Magazine. The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards program is in its 22nd year and continues to recognize leaders and visionaries who are creating and building world-class businesses. As a Central Texas winner, Goodner is now nominated for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 national program. National award recipients will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California on November 15, 2008.