George D. Dalton, the founder and CEO of Town of Brookfield-based NOVO 1 Inc. and the founder and former CEO of Brookfield-based Fiserv Inc., has been appointed to the judging panel for Ernst & Young's World Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program.

In representing the United States on the panel, Mr. Dalton will join other World Entrepreneur Of The Year judges from India, China, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Sweden and Netherlands.

Business leaders who have been selected in 2008 as Entrepreneur Of The Year winners representing more than 50 countries will be gathering at the annual event, held this week in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

The judging panel will review volumes of documentation and engage in one on one interviews; selecting one person as the best entrepreneur in the world among all of the participants being inducted into the World Entrepreneur Of the Year Academy.

 The Entrepreneur Of The Year Award program originated with the Milwaukee Ernst & Young LLP organization in 1986 and is now held in more than 135 cities in more than 50 countries around the world.

Dalton was a prior recipient of the Entrepreneur Of The Year Award, winning the Explosive Growth category for the Lake Michigan region in 1988. He was also a U.S. National Entrepreneur Of The Year Award finalist in 1996. Dalton has been serving as a judge for Ernst & Young LLP's U.S. National Entrepreneur of the Year Awards since 1998 and was appointed World Judge in 2007.

Innovation Fuels' Sawall appointed president of Wisconsin Biodiesel Association

Richard "Hardy" Sawall, senior vice president of Midwest Operations for New York-based Innovation Fuels - the New York based renewable energy company that manufactures, markets, and distributes second-generation biodiesel to customers around the world – has been appointed President of the Wisconsin Biodiesel Association.

Sawall, 33, is the youngest president in the organization's history. 

Earlier this month, Innovation Fuels announced it has begun selling biodiesel to customers from its Port of Milwaukee terminal. The 312,000 barrel capacity terminal spans 10 acres and is the first in the country that is totally dedicated for the sale and distribution of renewable fuels.

"We are extremely pleased and would like to congratulate Hardy on his achievement," commented John Fox, CEO of Innovation Fuels. "What he has accomplished for Wisconsin's renewable energy industry is already quite impressive but I think Hardy, himself, will tell you, it is just the beginning."

"Hardy has contributed immensely as a board member and we look forward to his leadership in the coming year," said Tony Hartmann, outgoing president of the Wisconsin Biodiesel Association. "The Association is privileged to have him in the President's chair."

"I am truly honored to have been chosen to succeed Tony Hartmann as president of the WBA and am very eager to continue to make strides toward having Wisconsin become an epicenter of activity for renewable fuels whether it be for production, sales, transportation or in marketing our products," said Sawall.