Stuart Ellis, President and CEO of Charter School Capital (CSC), has been named an Ernst & Young LLP Entrepreneur of the Year in recognition of his work providing funding resources to more than 200 charter schools supporting more than 90,000 students.
“CSC is extremely pleased to be recognized for our efforts to help charter schools get the working capital they need,” Mr. Ellis said. “It’s certainly validation for what we’ve been doing.”
Mr. Ellis is among eight entrepreneurial winners from the Pacific Northwest who are now eligible for the national Entrepreneur of the Year Venture Capital Award of Excellence. The overall National U.S. winner will compete for the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Award later this year.
Charter School Capital has been a key player in helping charter schools bridge the funding gap caused by deferrals of state education funds. By purchasing a charter school’s earned revenue, CSC can provide funding that is more affordable, accessible and efficient than a bank loan.
“Charter schools have unique financing needs,” Mr. Ellis said. “Traditional schools can issue state-backed Tax Revenue Anticipation Notes to obtain bridge financing, but charters cannot. CSC levels the playing field for charters with funding that similarly addresses their cashflow challenges.”
Other winners in the Pacific Northwest region include Dina Alhadeff, Amy Grealish and Lori Liddle, founders of Chasing Fireflies, Seattle, WA; Ben Huh, CEO of Cheezburger, Seattle, WA; Mitchell H. Gold, M.D., President and CEO of Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN); Gurpreet (Sunny) Singh, CEO of Edifecs, Inc., Bellevue, WA; Tim M. Beaver and John S. Graham, founders of Global Diving & Salvage, Inc., Seattle, WA; Dudley R. Slater, CEO, Integra Telecom, Portland, OR; and Robert A. Bessler, M.D., founder and CEO of Sound Physicians, Tacoma, WA.
For a copy of Ernst & Young’s announcement of the Pacific Northwest 2011 winners click here.
Winners from the Pacific Northwest in prior years include Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder, President and CEO of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN); Timothy P. Boyle, President and CEO of Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ: COLM); Douglas Schmick, co-founder and chairman of McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants, Inc., (NASDAQ:MSSR); Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks, (NASDAQ: SBUX); and Brian Cook, founder, Nautilus Group, Inc. (NYSE: NLS). These and many others from across the country are recognized in the Ernst & Young U.S. headquarters office at 5 Times Square, New York, NY, which is open to the public. To see the full list of Ernst & Young’s Hall of Fame members click here.
About Charter School Capital
OUR MISSION: Charter School Capital provides charter schools dependable and convenient financing options so that they can focus on their mission – educating children.
OUR VISION: Charter School Capital provides a bridge from the finance industry to the charter school community, ensuring reliable access to capital for qualified schools. We understand the problems schools face – especially in today's economic climate – and our business is dedicated to help solve them.
OUR TEAM: We have an extraordinary collective resume. Our team has backgrounds in finance, non-profit and education. The depth of our financial resources and our solid understanding of the issues helps us provide reliable financial solutions and excellent customer service.
Contacts:
Tony Knight, 310-788-2850
