Rochester Business Journal

Ernest Del Monte, CEO of the E.J. Del Monte Corp., has been selected to receive the 2012 Herbert W. Vanden Brul Entrepreneurial Award.

The award, named for the local entrepreneur and co-founder of Harris Corp.'s RF Communications division, is given by the E. Philip Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology.

The award was created by Vanden Brul in 1984 to recognize people who had created a business that improved the local economy or whose innovation changed the course of an existing company. The honor is to be presented at noon May 3 during an event at Oak Hill Country Club.

The choice of Del Monte fits with the intention of the award to honor someone whose contributions have benefited the region over a long period of time, said Mark Boylan, senior director of development at the Saunders College.

"It's a lifetime achievement thing," Boylan said. "We try to recognize the body of someone's lifetime work, as opposed to someone who maybe is an overnight success. Ernie Del Monte has had success over many years with his business."

Past winners exemplify this ideal, Boylan said. Del Monte will join a list that includes entrepreneur Philip Saunders; Wayne LeChase, founder of LeChase Construction Services LLC; Thomas Golisano, founder of Paychex Inc.; and restaurant owners Dennis and Laurence Kessler.

Del Monte was named to the Rochester Business Hall of Fame in 2002.

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