Danville Man Nominated for Honor
From the Danville
Commercial News, 6 April 2004
Article by Carol Roehm
DANVILLE -- A local business owner has
been nominated to the Illinois Entrepreneur of the Year program, which
recognizes business leadership, innovation and perseverance.
Kevin Stroud, who founded NexLAN in
1998 in Danville, was nominated by Vermilion Advantage for "his ingenuity
and hard work in creating a national-level successful business in Vermilion
County."
Stroud said he "was surprised but
honored" to be nominated.
"The past six years have been
tumultuous times in the business technical consultancy market, from the Y2K
frenzy to the dot com bus," he said.
"Our success is owed entirely to the
team I've been able to put together. The asset of a company such as
ours is the people," Stroud said.
The entrepreneur program, sponsored by
the accounting firm of Ernst & Young for the last 18 years, also is being
co-sponsored by Clifton Gunderson this year.
An independent panel of judges will
evaluate the nominees based on financial measurements, as well as vision,
people philosophy and commitment to their business and community.
The Illinois winners will be named at
a black-tie awards banquet in June at Navy Pier in Chicago. The state
winners will advance to the national awards program in November in Palm
Springs, Calif.
In nominating Stroud, Vicki Stewart,
president and CEO of the Vermilion Advantage, said, "It's important to
recognize talent and success right in our own back yard. Few people in
the local area are aware NexLAN even exists, yet dozens of companies
nationwide - from 'mom and pop shops' to divisions of Fortune 500 companies
- depend on NexLAN's accounting/manufacturing software expertise."
NexLAN is the only MicrosoftCertified
Partner in Vermilion County and has been a major sponsor of Kennekuk Kids
Run the last five years.
Stroud graduated from Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind. at age 20 and then spent nine
years with the National Security Agency while earning his master's degree
from Johns Hopkins University.
In the mid-90's, Stroud entered the
private sector when he moved to Danville to serve as the director of
computer operations for the local Greenwood Inc. family of businesses before
founding NexLAN.