The 2002 finalists in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Program have been announced.

Collectively, the 30 finalists have generated net sales of more than $3 billion during the past three years, says E&Y. Since 1999, they have achieved a combined growth rate of 99.8%. “Entrepreneurs are clearly engines for economic growth,” says Bill Demers, Ontario director of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year program.

“We believe they cause economies to grow, create jobs and ultimately help build a healthy economy so that overall the standard of living increases. This is a group of people whose companies not only help drive Ontario’s economy, but are also players in the global marketplace,” he says.

The finalists include members of the financial services community, including Warren Goldring, a global financial asset manager with AGF Management Limited in Toronto and Thomas Schwartz with CAP REIT in Toronto.