WILMINGTON — The Delaware Business Times is excited to announce the 2025 honorees of its fifth annual CEO of the Year program.
The awards program honors the efforts of Delaware’s top-ranking business leaders in both for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Nonprofit honorees are categorized by the amount of annual funding while for-profit honorees are categorized by the number of employees in their company.
The honorees, chosen by an independent judging panel, will be honored at a celebration on June 26 at the Christiana Hilton in Newark. Tickets can be ordered online.
The annual program also features a Milestone Award winner to recognize an individual who has demonstrated significant, sustained success in leading a business or nonprofit organization in Delaware while also making a positive, measurable contribution to the state’s community. The 2025 Milestone Award winner is Mike Bowman.
Bowman is the CEO and president of the Delaware Technology Park, a technology-focused start-up hub a short drive from the University of Delaware. As a former DuPont employee and executive of Advanced Material Systems, Bowman has a deep understanding of tech and science companies that he leveraged into supporting innovative early-stage companies in the First State.
Since he joined the Delaware Technology Park in 2000, he has fostered its growth to help launch more than 150 companies and create 16,000 jobs over the past 20 years, particularly in bioscience and advanced materials. In addition to his work with start-ups, Bowman is the associate director of the University of Delaware’s Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships as well as the state director of Delaware Small Business Development Center.
The Large-For-Profit CEO of the Year honoree is Paul Ricci, CEO of Best Egg. Ricci was one of the first 11 employees at the financial technology company, then known as Marlette Funding – and now he’s leading a company that has close to 500 employees that work to offer flexible lending options to its customers. Under his leadership, Best Egg has crossed the $30 billion mark in loan originations for 2.3 million personal loan customers. Under Ricci’s leadership, Best Egg is an active participant in the Center of Accelerating Financial Equity (CAFE) and Zip Code Wilmington.
The Large Nonprofit CEO of the Year honoree is Kenan Sklenar, president and CEO of Easterseals of Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore. In the last 12 years as the nonprofit’s leader, Sklenar has led the way as Easterseals launched four new services including Attendance Services and Agency with a Choice, two new locations in the region and a new adult day program in Smyrna. Under his tenure, Easterseals helped raise more than $4.5 million to expand and modernize Camp Fairlee, the organization’s camp for children and adults with disabilities. Sklenar and his staff have also worked to ensure that Easterseals maintains top accreditation marks with the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehab Facilities, placing it in the top 3% rehab facilities in the world.
The Medium For-Profit CEO of the Year honoree is Brian DiSabatino, president and CEO of the EDiS Company. EDiS Company was founded by DiSabatino’s great-grandfather in 1908 and he later joined the family business as a laborer on the corner of Fourth and King Street, testing concrete floors. As the company’s leader, EDiS has doubled its project volume and reported a 48% revenue increase between 2023 and 2024. DiSabatino strives to be an innovator, taking on the $1 billion build of Whitehall. Outside of the office, DiSabatino is the chairman of the Delaware Business Roundtable as well as a co-founder of 22in22, a movement to combat military-related suicides, among many other community service initiatives.
The Medium Nonprofit CEO of the Year honoree is Pam Cornforth, president and CEO of the Ronald McDonald Charities of Greater Delaware. Cornforth has been with the organization since 1999 with a small staff that has helped more than 3,550 guests stay at the Ronald McDonald Family Rooms in local hospitals. This year, the organization reports 35 part-time and full-time employees that served more than 13,800 people in 52 guest rooms. Since families donate little to the organization, Cornforth is the driving fundraising force that has worked to diversify revenue sources across events, grants, annual campaigns and more. Through her efforts, the Ronald McDonald Charities of Greater Delaware has entered 2025 with half a million in capital improvements planned and no need to take on debt to see it through.
The Small For-Profit CEO of the Year Honoree is Michelle Freeman, chair and president of
the Carl M. Freeman Companies. For nearly 80 years, the Carl M. Freeman Companies has transitioned from residential and community developers to commercial property developers. Michelle Freeman oversees it all with a staff of only 25 people. The company’s latest project is Tower Hill in Lewes, the first community in Sussex County to include 30 acres of meadow installation as part of its stormwater plans. Outside development, Freeman is known for her charitable contributions through the Carl M. Freeman Foundation as well as the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation, named after her late husband. Both organizations have donated $25 million to 500 nonprofits in the Delmarva Region.
The Small Nonprofit CEO of the Year honoree is Linda Parkowski, executive director of the Kent Economic Partnership. Roughly 60% of the U.S. population is within a three-hour radius of Kent County and Parkowski is tasked with working to recruit businesses interested in targeting those markets. A lifelong Delawarean, Parkowski took over the KEP in 2018 when the organization restructured as a stand-alone entity in the county to work with local leaders to raise awareness of central Delaware as a prime business location. Since she has joined the organization, KEP has located 32 projects in the area that resulted in 1,370 jobs in the market and $287 million in capital investment.
