Ernst & Young US announces Hala Ballouz of EPE as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2025 Gulf South Award finalist

AUSTIN, Texas <April 28, 2025> – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) announced the finalists for the prestigious Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 Gulf South Award. Now in its 40th year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program celebrates the bold leaders who disrupt markets through the world’s most ground-breaking companies, revolutionizing industries and making a profound impact on communities. The program honors bold entrepreneurs whose innovations shape the future and pave the way for a thriving economy and a hopeful tomorrow.

The Gulf South program celebrates entrepreneurs from Central and South Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. An independent panel of judges selected Hala Ballouz for her entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and lasting impact in building long-term value.

“I’m honored to be named a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award,” said Hala Ballouz, Co-Founder, Chief Vision Officer, and Board Chair of Electric Power Engineers (EPE), who previously served as President and CEO for 18 years. “This recognition is a reflection of the hard work, passion, and innovation of our entire team. We’ve built something truly special together, and I’m grateful to EY for celebrating entrepreneurship and for acknowledging my journey.”

Headquartered in Austin, TX, Electric Power Engineers (EPE) is a global advisory firm providing world-class consulting, engineering services, and software innovations that shape the grid of the future. With expertise in renewables generation, energy storage, transmission, distribution, grid modernization and digital transformation, EPE provides full-spectrum consulting and proprietary software intelligence solutions that help stakeholders ensure electricity remains reliable, resilient, flexible, sustainable, and affordable in the U.S. and globally.

Entrepreneur Of The Year honors 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 strengthen it for the future.

Regional award winners will be announced on June 12th during a special celebration in Houston and will become lifetime members of an esteemed community of Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni from around the world. The winners will then be considered by the National judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.

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Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, LLC, Marsh McLennan Agency, and SAP. In the Gulf South, sponsors also include Platinum sponsors ADP, DFIN, DLA Piper and vcfo and Silver sponsors Big Picture and Pierpont 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 60 countries 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 EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY

EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

 Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

 EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multi-disciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.

 All in to shape the future with confidence.

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 About Electric Power Engineers

A leader in grid reliability and resilience, Electric Power Engineers (EPE) is a global advisory firm providing world-class consulting, engineering services and software innovations shaping the grid of the future. With the mission to harness world-class expertise and innovative power systems technology to engineer a successful energy transition, EPE delivers solutions to support the integration of renewable energy resources and shape a more affordable, reliable, resilient electricity system. Since its founding, EPE has empowered clients to address comprehensive engineering and grid modeling challenges, delivering solutions to evolving energy systems demands. With expertise in renewables generation, energy storage, transmission, distribution, grid modernization and digital transformation, EPE provides full-spectrum consulting and proprietary software solutions. EPE's clients comprise world-leading energy developers, utilities, data center operators, and cross-sector enterprise partners. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA with offices in Canada, Panama, and Lebanon, EPE's global operations span North America, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. For more information, visit www.epeconsulting.com.

 Media Contact
Todd Frank
tfrank@epeconsulting.com