Tuuci Founder Clarke Honored as Entrepreneur

Ernst & Young LLP announced that founder, CEO and Chief Product Designer Dougan Clarke of Tuuci was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 Florida Award winner. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive awards program for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies.

Clarke was selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous award winners, leading CEOs and other business leaders. Candidates were evaluated based on their ability to create long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, commitment to their purpose and the demonstration of growth and substantial impact, among other key indicators.

“Being named a 2024 Entrepreneur of the Year Winner – Florida is an honor,” Clarke said. “I am grateful to be recognized amongst others who have overcome adversity, dared to take risks, and built successful businesses from scratch.

“Founding Tuuci continues to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I am humbled to lead such a talented team of artisans who make this journey so rewarding. I’m grateful for the Entrepreneur of the Year program and for its commitment to celebrating ambitious efforts to create a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous world for all.”  

As a Florida award winner, Clarke is eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 National Awards. The National Award winners, including the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in June 2025.  

Entrepreneur Of The Year recognizes many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized the leadership of entrepreneurs such as:

●     Ellen Latham of Orangetheory FitnessHamdi Ulukaya of Chobani, Inc.

●     Holly Thaggard and Amanda Baldwin of Supergoop!

●     James Park of Fitbit

●     Jan Bednar of ShipMonk

●     Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC

●     Michael Happe of Winnebago Industries

●     Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn Corporation

●     Sheila Mikhail of AskBio

●     Steven Allison Mansell of Autonation, Inc.

Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners become lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs. They receive exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of program alumni and other ecosystem members in more than 60 countries — all supported by vast EY resources.

In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network and access needed to unlock their full potential.

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, Marsh USA, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

For more than a quarter century, Tuuci has revolutionized outdoor living spaces with durable, innovative shade and furniture products featuring nautically inspired designs. Founded by Clarke in 1998, The Ultimate Umbrella Company, Inc., (simply known as “Tuuci”), was born from his seaside roots in Miami, where Clarke began his career as a marine outfitter for high-performance yachts.

With a keen eye on design and a passion for form and function, Clarke applied his craftsmanship to the shade industry to create Tuuci’s unique brand of marine-grade shade architecture. Today, Tuuci’s distinctive, award-winning parasol designs, luxury indoor outdoor furniture, cabanas and pergolas, and space-making accessories are experienced around the world and sought by leading design professionals within the commercial, hospitality, and residential design communities.

Globally headquartered in Miami, the company owns two additional manufacturing centers in Northern Europe and Southeast Asia and operates showrooms in Miami, Chicago, Atlanta and The Netherlands.

Tuuci’s sense of community is a cornerstone of the company’s foundation, providing charitable outreach across a host of environmental and humanitarian concerns. The company’s mission is to help people live their best life outdoors through inspiring design, enduring performance, and convivial service.

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