[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image="220164" img_size="large" alignment="center"][vc_column_text dp_text_size="size-4"]WILMINGTON — The Delaware Business Times is excited to announce the 2022 honorees of its second 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. The winners, chosen by an independent judging panel, will be honored at a July 14 charity golf outing, dinner and awards presentation at Deerfield Golf Club in Newark. Tickets are available here. The annual program also features a Milestone Award winner, which recognizes an individual who has demonstrated significant, sustained success leading a business or nonprofit organization in Delaware while also making a positive, measurable contribution to the state’s community as a whole. The 2022 Milestone Award winner is Mark Turner. [caption id="attachment_222876" align="alignleft" width="300"] Mark Turner | PHOTO COURTESY OF WSFS[/caption] Turner served as president and CEO of WSFS Bank, Delaware’s largest remaining homegrown institution, for more than 12 years, running from 2007 to 2019. During his time at WSFS, he managed the bank through the Great Recession and oversaw its 2018 acquisition deal of Philadelphia-based Beneficial Bank, greatly expanding its presence outside of Delaware and earning him an American Banker magazine Community Banker of the Year 2018 award. Turner also serves on a variety of local boards, including ChristianaCare and First State Educate, and chaired the Delaware Business Roundtable when it produced its “Ready in Six” campaign to promote economic development in the First State. [caption id="attachment_222882" align="alignright" width="150"] Hervé Hoppenot | PHOTO COURTESY OF INCYTE[/caption] The Large For-Profit CEO of the Year honoree is Hervé Hoppenot, CEO of Incyte. Since taking the helm of the billion-dollar biopharmaceutical company in 2014, he has grown Incyte’s revenue by nearly 600%, expanded its product offerings and taken its market internationally. Hoppenot has made Incyte’s growth a Delaware success story by investing in its Wilmington-area home, employing more than 1,000 people here. He also oversaw the creation of the Incyte Cancer Care Assistance Fund for Delaware, which provides emergency financial assistance for state cancer patients, their caregivers and family members. [caption id="attachment_222881" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. David Tam | PHOTO COURTESY OF BEEBE[/caption] The Large Nonprofit CEO of the Year honoree is Dr. David Tam, president and CEO of Beebe Healthcare. Taking over the Sussex County health care system just as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning around the country, Tam drove from California to Lewes to start his new position right away. Since taking the helm, he has attracted more than 100 new physicians to the small health system and led a $180 million campus expansion plan to serve a rapidly aging population in Sussex County. [caption id="attachment_222885" align="alignright" width="150"] Patrick Connell | PHOTO COURTESY OF ARS[/caption] The Medium For-Profit CEO of the Year honoree is Patrick Connell, CEO and owner of New Castle-based ARS Trucking and Fleet Service. Since taking over the business from his stepfather in 1999, Connell has turned the local firm into an award-winning truck repair and fleet service operation. Three years ago, he oversaw a local acquisition that dramatically increased their headcount, facility space and revenue. ARS supports a number of local charities but is particularly known for its weekly employee barbecues that feed anyone in need. [caption id="attachment_222886" align="alignleft" width="150"] Tony DePrima | PHOTO COURTESY OF ENERGIZE DE[/caption] The Medium Nonprofit CEO of the Year honoree is Anthony DePrima, executive director of Dover-based Energize Delaware, which provides energy-efficiency grants, loans and training to low-income residents and organizations that serve the public. DePrima oversees millions of dollars that have been disseminated to residents and nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity, Wilmington Senior Center, Kingswood Community Center, and more. DePrima is also a former city manager of Dover, and he currently serves on Capitol School District school board, as well as the boards of NCALL, the Dover Library Foundation and the Kent County Conservancy. [caption id="attachment_222883" align="alignright" width="150"] Juli Bennett | PHOTO COURTESY OF B2B[/caption] The Small For-Profit CEO of the Year honoree is Juli Bennett, executive director of Wilmington-based Back to Basics Learning Dynamics (B2B), an education and language services company. Bennett took over B2B in 2018 and led it through the pandemic, training hundreds of new tutors to provide online services to serve more than 6,000 students last year. Bennett also started B2B’s “Wish Come True” program for Delaware teachers, which has donated supplies to dozens of state teachers to supply their classrooms with needed materials. [caption id="attachment_222884" align="alignleft" width="150"] Kelvin Lee | PHOTO COURTESY OF NIIMBL[/caption] The Small Nonprofit CEO of the Year honoree is Kelvin Lee, the director of the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL). Since being founded in 2017 on the University of Delaware’s STAR Campus, NIIMBL has drawn national attention to its working in improving the production of medicines. Lee has been instrumental in landing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants that are allocated to projects around the country, as well as in Delaware. Dedicated to advancing STEM careers for all students, he also launched the eXperience Program, an initiative that provides real-world insights into the biopharmaceutical industry for African American/Black, Latinx, and Native American college freshman and sophomore students from historically Black colleges and universities. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]