"This competition is about entrepreneurs and people who have taken a risk. It's not a business competition, and it's not a manager competition. The judges have to really assess, who's the entrepreneur? Who's taken the risk? I've always been a strong advocate of that on the panel."

Carla Meine, an EOY judge since the 2005 contest, has seen the process from all sides. Meine, founder and chief executive officer of O'Currance Teleservices, was a bit reluctant the first year she was nominated for an EOY award.

"I was like, I can't compete with other companies!" she said. "And they said, 'No, you have an amazing story and it needs to be heard.' "

That year, Meine was a finalist but did not win. However, the judges encouraged her to try again when her company was more mature. In 2003, she did — and she was an award recipient.

"For me, (getting an EOY award) put me on the map," she said. "I don't know if anyone ever would have known all the great things we were doing, employing people and letting them work from home. It made a difference to us.

"It's kind of lonely out there as an entrepreneur. Nobody's patting you on the back. Rarely does anybody say, 'Thank you,' or 'You're doing awesome,' or 'We sure appreciate that.' This award celebrates entrepreneurs who are out there in the trenches creating thousands and thousands of jobs. Where would we be without them? It's an amazing forum to really put entrepreneurs in the limelight."

Becoming a judge lent Meine yet another perspective on the competition, showing her the real prestige of the award through its rigorous judging process.

"They said, 'Come back in a couple of years,' and I was like, 'I can't put myself through that again!' " she said. "But since I've become a judge I've realized that it's true — sometimes it might take a couple of years to really get there and compete well."

The year she received a Utah EOY award, Meine attended the national EOY convention in Palm Springs, Calif., which she called "amazing."

"I want to get across what an incredible job Ernst & Young has done for 20 years making this award possible," Meine said. "Now that I'm judging, I just think, time and time again, that's an incredible business, look at what they've done, why haven't I heard of them?"

Surviving trials

Warnock said this year's finalists have come through many trials — economic downturns, lack of start-up funding, loss of major-revenue clients — and refused to quit.

"This is the strongest group of finalists I remember having judged in a long time," he said. "They all have merit. That's just delightful given that it's the anniversary year of the contest."

In particular, Warnock said, he was struck by the vision and tenacity of the female finalists in this year's group.