Saltmine Creative Wins Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Saltmine Creative Inc. an online development and design firm based in Seattle and London, said that its managing partners have won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

A panel of judges selected Saltmine President Jayson Jarmon, Chief Operating Officer Ben Thompson and Chief Technology Officer Pete Gerrald as finalists in the 1998 Internet Entrepreneur of the Year category for the Pacific Northwest. Final selection was announced at an awards banquet last week.

“It’s nice to be singled out by the professional community as an entrepreneurial success,” said Jarmon, “but above all, we are pleased that the accomplishments of Saltmine’s employees and the quality of our technological work are being recognized in the marketplace.”

Jarmon, Thompson and Gerrald started Saltmine Creative in 1995 with a $1,500 investment. In 1997 Saltmine grossed $5 million, and 1998 revenues are projected to reach $7 million to 10 million, the company said. The staff has grown from the original three founders to a current total of 65 employees worldwide. In January 1998, Saltmine opened a full-service European headquarters in London, England.

Previous Entrepreneur of the Year award winners have included Craig McCaw of McCaw Cellular, Jeffrey Bezos of Amazon.com and Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee.

Saltmine’s clients include British Petroleum, The PGA TOUR, Microsoft, C-SPAN, IBM, Home Shopping Network, Muzak, The Los Angeles Times and Columbia Sportswear.