Aug 28, 2020

Ernst & Young names Zolli Candy teen founder as Entrepreneur of the Year finalist

Fifteen year-old Michigan native Alina Morse was announced today by Ernst & Young LLP (EY) as an Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOTY) 2020 Michigan and Northwest Ohio Award finalist. Now in its 34th year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program honors entrepreneurial business leaders whose ambitions deliver innovation, growth and prosperity as they build and sustain successful businesses that transform our world. Morse, inventor of healthy candy as part of her company Zolli candy, was selected as one of 29 finalists by a panel of independent judges from a competitive pool of nominations.

Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive award programs for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies, with winners set to be announced on Oct. 8, 2020. The nominees are evaluated based on six criteria, including overcoming adversity; financial performance; societal impact and commitment to building a values-based company; innovation; and talent management. Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, to be announced in November during a virtual awards gala. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in June 2021.

At age seven, while researching ways to create healthy candy she could have all the time, Morse invented Zollipops, the clean teeth lollipops, and hit shelves in 2014 at age nine. Her Zolli Candy line (Zollipops, Zolli Drops, Zaffi Taffy, Zolli Caramelz, Zolli Gumeez, Zolli Beanz, Zolli Ball Pops) is now sold at over 25,000 retailers, including Walmart, Kroger, CVS, Amazon, Target, Walgreens, and Whole Foods.

She also exports to China, Korea and France, while committing 10% of profits to support an increase in oral health education in schools by giving 4-MM products through her Million Smiles Initiative to help fight America’s most chronic childhood disease – tooth decay. In Aug. 2020, Inc. Magazine named her company the Fastest Growing Private Candy Company as part of the magazine’s Inc. 5000 List, ranking the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.

Since the launch of EOTY, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries around the world with winners becoming lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs, with exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of program alumni and other ecosystem members- all supported by vast EY resources.

To learn more Zolli Candy, visit, www.ZolliCandy.com.