Janet Johanson Named as an Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 Heartland Award Winner
August 2, 2021 -- BevSource, a leading provider of beverage development, testing, and production services for new and established beverage brands, announced that Janet Johanson, CEO and Founder, BevSource & The Lab, and Founding Organizer, Black Business is Beautiful Market, was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2021 Heartland Award winner. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program is one of the preeminent competitive awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. The award recognizes unstoppable entrepreneurial leaders, excelling in talent management; degree of difficulty; financial performance; societal impact and building a values-based company; and originality, innovation, and future plans. Johanson was selected by an independent panel of judges, and the award was announced during the program’s virtual awards gala on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.
Janet Johanson founded BevSource in 2002 on a mission to break down the product development and manufacturing barriers that kept creative, passionate entrepreneurs from bringing new beverage ideas to life. BevSource is now an $80 million company that has launched and managed operations for thousands of beverage products. To expand the company’s international reach, BevSource acquired European-based MyDrink Beverages in 2018. In 2019, BevSource launched The Lab, a first-of-its-kind pilot production and quality testing facility with an adjacent taproom where tasters and makers can co-create the next generation of innovative beverages. In 2020, Johanson also started the Black Business is Beautiful Market, an outdoor space where the local community can come together to purchase goods and services from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) businesses on the second Saturday of each month outside The Lab.
“I am honored and humbled to be named an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year ® Heartland Award Winner,” said Janet Johanson, Founder and CEO of BevSource. “We started BevSource 19 years ago to empower beverage entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into successful, scalable beverage products. This award recognizes our incredible team whose passion and talent help make our clients’ beverage dreams a reality. My colleagues and partners are a constant reminder that the most essential ingredient for innovation is a creative and collaborative team.”
For 35 years, EY US has honored entrepreneurs whose ambition, courage and ingenuity have driven their companies’ success, transformed their industries and positively impacted their communities. Johanson will go on to become a lifetime member of the esteemed multi-industry community of award winners, with exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight, and wisdom of fellow alumni and other ecosystem members in over 60 countries — all supported by vast EY resources.
As a Heartland award winner, Johanson is now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2021 National Awards. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has honored the inspirational leadership of entrepreneurs such as:
- Shelly Ibach of Sleep Number
- Dave Mortensen & Chuck Runyon of Anytime Fitness, LLC
- Zach Quinn of Love Your Melon
- Joel Connor of Bellisio Foods
Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored by SAP America and the Kauffman Foundation. In Heartland, sponsors also include Colliers International, Padilla Co., PNC Bank, SALO LLC, Twin Cities Business, and Donnelley Financial Solutions.
About BevSource
BevSource brings beverage ideas to life for new and established beverage brands. Since 2002, BevSource has provided beverage development, sourcing, and production solutions to help beverage creators navigate the complexities of the beverage industry. Realizing creators needed a place to validate their ideas, BevSource created The Lab, a first-of-its-kind facility for small-scale pilot production and quality assurance testing. In 2021, BevSource will manage more than 8.5 million cases of beverage production and procure more than $68 million in packaging and raw materials for leading beverage innovators. For more information, visit bevsource.com.
About Janet Johanson
Janet Johanson is CEO & Founder of BevSource & The Lab, and Founding Organizer of the Black Business is Beautiful Market. Janet started BevSource in 2002 when she saw the opportunity to help break down the product development and manufacturing barriers that kept entrepreneurs from bringing new beverage ideas to life. BevSource is now an $80 million company that has launched and managed operations for thousands of beverage products. Janet led BevSource’s acquisition of European-based MyDrink Beverages in 2018. In 2019, she founded The Lab, a first-of-its-kind, pilot production, and quality testing facility. Janet started the Black Business is Beautiful Market, a monthly outdoor event showcasing goods and services from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) businesses, in 2020. Janet serves on the board for Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest and Give Us Wings, a non-profit that helps people in Uganda create economic development, medical, and educational support projects.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ title. ey.com/us/eoy
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