Andrew Larson of the Gustave A. Larson Company Named Finalist for
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® 2004 Award

Pewaukee, WI, May 26, 2004 – Andrew Larson, President of the Gustave A. Larson Company, was named a finalist by professional services firm Ernst & Young LLP for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2004 Awards in Wisconsin.  The Larson Company was selected from nominations in Wisconsin by a panel of judges comprised of local community and business leaders.   Finalists will be selected in award categories announced at an awards banquet on June 24^th at the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee.

The Gustave A. Larson Company, a wholesale distributor of food preservation and comfort products, was founded in 1936 by Gustave Larson, grandfather of Andrew Larson.  Over the past 8 years, through Mr. Larson’s leadership, Company revenues have grown over 126% and locations have increased from 17 to 43.  In the past 4 years, the Larson Company has earned numerous honors, such as “Best Employer to Work for” by Milwaukee Magazine, “Top 100 Private Companies” in Wisconsin by Arthur Andersen, “50 Largest Milwaukee-Area Private Companies” in by The Business Journal, “Distributor of the Year” by American Standard and Mitsubishi Electric, “Pinnacle Award” by the Trane Company, and “Chicago Wholesaler of the Year, by Refrigeration Service Engineers Society.  Andrew Larson received his Masters of Management in 1990 at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and his Bachelor of Science in 1986 at the University of Southern California.

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards program is nationally sponsored by Microsoft and by the Kauffman Foundation. Wisconsin program sponsors are Godfrey & Kahn, S.C., Clifton Gunderson LLP, The Business Journal, and The British Midlands.

Wisconsin winners will be eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2004 national program.  Winners in several national categories, as well as the overall national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, Calif., in November 2004.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year awards program was created and is produced by professional services firm Ernst & Young LLP. As the first award of its kind, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic and growing businesses. The program honors entrepreneurs through regional, national and global award programs in over 100 cities and 35 countries.

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