With a slew of dynamic business leaders in fields from fashion to construction, sushi to postcards, the Business Observer's 2026 Top Entrepreneur Awards Luncheon is a can’t-miss event.
Each May we gather to honor and celebrate a group of standout entrepreneurs.
These are business leaders who are willing to take risks, follow their guts and zag while others zig. A few in the Class of 2026 — six winners in total — have started multiple companies. One was the CEO of an advertising agency in L.A. Another has sold some startups to Google and Amazon. One just opened a five-story food hall in downtown St. Petersburg.
All the winners have one core trait in common, even as they run businesses ranging in annual revenue from a few million to more than $700 million. That common trait? A burning desire to be constantly better, do more, go further.
As in past years, Business Observer Top Entrepreneur award winners come from all across our nine-county coverage area. The event is broken into two segments: three winners will have a video tribute, while three other winners will partake in a panel conversation moderated by Business Observer Managing Editor Mark Gordon. They will talk about lessons, mentors, insights, forecasts for the future and more.
The class of 2026 Business Observer Top Entrepreneurs are:
- Roberta Beranek, Naples Fashion Week, Naples: Beranek acquired the business in 2024 and brought it back to life last year after a two-year hiatus. The show features international designers, runway shows and pop-ups. Beranek, an interior designer, has started and sold a pet accessories line and a hair bow and headband business.
- David Diamond, DeAngelis Diamond, Naples: Diamond co-founded the firm in 1996 and it has grown to $704 million in annual revenue. Diamond is also an entrepreneur and angel investor, having launched or invested in some 20 companies, in software, mobile and health tech.
- Eric Foster, Tenex, Sarasota: Foster founded cybersecurity consulting firm Tenex in Sarasota in January 2025 and the firm has already hit $18 million in revenue and is on pace to surpass $40 million this year. It also hit a big milestone March 30, when it announced a $250 million capital raise in Series B funding.
- Joy Gendusa, PostcardMania, Clearwater: She founded PostcardMania in 1988 in a 600-square-foot cottage with a phone, a computer and postcards — no outside funding. The business today produces millions of marketing postcards for small business clients each week, as 350 employees and does $120 million a year in revenue.
- Natalia Levey, Hi Hospitality Group, Tampa: Levey’s firm owns and operates four concepts in the Sarasota-Bradenton area: Speaks Clam Bar, Kojo, Bar Hana and Palm Avenue Deli. And in February, Hi Hospitality opened Central Park St. Pete, a food hall on Central Avenue that spreads 28,000 square feet over five levels and has 10 dining concepts.
- Mark Vengroff, One Stop Housing, Sarasota: The model of One Stop, founded by Vengroff’s late father, Harvey Vengroff, is to identify distressed motel properties for repurposing into affordable workforce apartments. It’s the largest owner of affordable housing units in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
