2015 Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

Two graduates from the College of Saint Benedict received Entrepreneur of the Year awards from the Donald McNeely Center. The CSB Entrepreneur of the Year award was presented to Janet Setter Dryer '83 (pictured top), former CEO and current chair of the board of HelpSystems. The CSB/SJU Social Entrepreneur of the Year award was presented to Krista Cleary Carroll '00 (pictured bottom), co-founder and CEO of Latitude. That same afternoon, Rick Bauerly (SJU '91) of Granite Equity Partners was named SJU Entrepreneur of the Year.

The CSB Entrepreneur of the Year award recognizes the achievements of CSB graduates who best exemplify the ideals of entrepreneurship by starting and successfully managing one or more businesses in a way that demonstrates notable entrepreneurial characteristics and achievements while practicing Benedictine values in the workplace and in their lives.

Dryer joined HelpSystems in 1985 as a sales representative and has held positions of increasing responsibility over the years, including director of sales and marketing and vice president of sales and marketing. She was named president in 1998, succeeding company founder Dick Jacobson. In 2007, she became CEO of the HelpSystems family of companies. She announced her retirement from HelpSystems in December 2014.

The CSB/SJU Social Entrepreneur of the Year award recognizes the achievements and qualities of a CSB or SJU graduate who best exemplifies the ideals of social entrepreneurship by starting and successfully managing one or more ventures that enrich humanity or address a social issue in a way that demonstrates notable entrepreneurial characteristics and achievements while practicing Benedictine values in the workplace and in their lives.

Carroll is co-founder and CEO of Latitude, an independent creative agency that believes "purpose elevates talent." Their stated purpose is to elevate people living in extreme poverty around the world, and invest 50 percent of their profits in organizations that advance this cause. This fuels them to passionately use their talents to best serve their clients as they elevate their brands in the marketplace. Since 2009, they've done that for retail brands like Ann Taylor, Under Armour, Puma and Petco and have invested over $2.1 million to-date.