At its annual Entrepreneur of the Year Banquet, the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City honored Mark Goldston, Chairman, CEO & President of United Online, as the International Entrepreneur of the Year for 2004. Mr. Goldston has made a significant mark in the constantly changing world of Internet branding with his gutsy merger of two Internet service providers – NetZero and Juno – into one powerful challenger brand that is the #2 Internet Service Provider in the United States behind AOL. Today, United Online is the dominant value priced ISP in the U.S.

Prior to joining NetZero, Mark Goldston spent over 22 years in the field of consumer marketing and has created and introduced over 60 products during that period, including the first mass-market anti-aging skincare product, Revlon’s Moon Drops, and one of the most successful athletic footwear products of all time, The Reebok Pump. Mark Goldston was named to the American Management Dream Team as the “Top Marketer in the USA” by Business Month magazine while at Reebok.

The Regional Entrepreneur of the Year for 2004 was Hugh Zimmer, founder and chairman of The Zimmer Companies. Mr. Zimmer has had a major impact on commercial real estate brokerage, development, management and investment. The Zimmer Companies have developed nearly 2,000 acres of business parks in the area and more than 24 million square feet of office and industrial buildings across the country.

Recipients of the Marion and John Kreamer Award for volunteer community service were Fred and Shirley Pryor, who are the living embodiment of volunteerism in Kansas City. They have long served our community, bringing their leadership and energy to such charitable organizations as the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault and the United Way.

For more information about the Bloch School’s Entrepreneur of the Year, past and present, go to www.bloch.umkc.edu/eoy.