Startups

Planit, CyberPoint founders take home ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ awards

Ernst & Young hosted a glitzy gala to honor Maryland entrepreneurs.

The scene at the gala. (Photo by Stephen Babcock)

Some of Baltimore’s founders got all gussied up Thursday night with a black-tie gala at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. The hundreds of attendees packed the ballroom to watch Ernst & Young hand out Maryland’s Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
The global firm taps local judges to hand out such awards across the country, then holds a national awards gala in the fall. (Here’s the recent Philly gala, for instance.) The Maryland panel included DBED Secretary Mike Gill, Betamore CEO Jen Meyer and Millennial Media cofounder Paul Palmieri, among others.
With a live band to play on the winners, speeches and slick videos introducing the crowd to the entrepreneurs (and their spirit animals), the event hit all the notes that award ceremony watchers have come to expect.
Matt Doud and Ed Callahan, the founding duo behind Baltimore-based digital marketing firm Planit, delivered a speech befitting the company’s out-of-the-box culture, full of high fives and wisecracks after winning in the Services category.


Doud said founders often struggle with titles. “But entrepreneur has got a different sort of swagger to it,” he said. “The term ‘entrepreneur’ is one that you’re proud of. It’s one that you like to own. There’s no baggage with it.”
Meanwhile, CyberPoint International CEO Karl Gumtow won in the Technology category. His first dedication was to his wife Vicki, who is a cofounder of the downtown-based cybersecurity firm.
Keith Dunleavy of Bowie-based healthcare data analytics company Inovalon topped the Growth category, which also featured city-based finalists Chris Jeffery of OrderUp and Nick Miller of Parking Panda.
Here’s the full list of winners:

  • Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction: John Martindale, Brothers Services Co.
  • Retail and Consumer Products: Glenn Gaynor, DTLR
  • Government Services: Patrick Munis, NewWave Telecom and Technologies
  • Services: Ed Callahan and Matt Doud, Planit
  • Technology: Karl Gumtow, Cyberpoint International
  • Health: John Heller, Health Pro Rehabilitation
  • Growth: Keith Dunleavy, Inovalon
Companies: Planit / CyberPoint International / OrderUp / Parking Panda

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

Our services Preferred partners The journalism fund
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Not all jobs are the same. Why do workforce agencies treat them like they are?

After nearly a decade, the federal program for immigrant entrepreneurs is finally working

Our newest reporter wants to know what matters to Baltimore’s innovators

Despite big raises and contracts, a tech training giant lays off staffers and loses its CEO

Technically Media