HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 13, 2025--
Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Gabriel Rio, President and CEO of Milestone Environmental Services, LLC, (“Milestone”), a leading environmental infrastructure company, was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 Gulf South Award winner. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive awards program for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. For 40 years, EY US has celebrated ambitious entrepreneurs who are transforming industries, impacting communities and creating long-term value.
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Mr. Rio was chosen by an independent panel of past winners, top CEOs, and business leaders. Judges assessed candidates on long-term value creation, entrepreneurial spirit, purpose-driven commitment, and significant growth and impact.
“It is an honor to receive this prestigious award. This achievement would not have been possible without the people that have persevered with me over the years - my incredible team, partners, mentors, and most of all my family - I’m grateful to share this award with them. Together, we have built a company that is not only transforming waste management but also driving meaningful environmental progress for our clients across critical sectors,” said Mr. Rio.
“At Milestone, we are committed to delivering reliable, cost-effective, end-to-end waste management solutions with agility and flexibility, enabling our customers to achieve their environmental goals while mitigating risk. Building on our strong legacy and deep expertise in energy waste solutions, we are expanding into industrial waste management and carbon solutions, further cementing our commitment to sustainable growth and leadership in the environmental infrastructure sector.”
As a Gulf South award winner, Mr. Rio is now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 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 EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in June 2026.
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 strengthen it for the future.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized the leadership of entrepreneurs such as:
About Entrepreneur Of The Year
Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 60 countries globally.
The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.
About EY
EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.
Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.
EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multi-disciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.
All in to shape the future with confidence.
EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.
About Milestone Environmental Services
Milestone is a leading environmental infrastructure company delivering reliable, safe, and disciplined waste management solutions to help businesses across critical sectors in the United States mitigate risk and achieve their environmental goals. Milestone operates the largest slurry injection network in the U.S., using advanced proprietary technology to permanently secure waste.
Since 2014, Milestone has captured more than 3 million tons of CO 2 e through its injection process, driving meaningful environmental progress for its clients. Building on its expertise in energy waste, Milestone is expanding into industrial waste management and carbon solutions to support sustainable growth.
Milestone is a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners, a sector-focused, growth-oriented private investment firm with extensive operating, ownership, and investment experience.
Gabriel J. Rio, President and CEO of Milestone Environmental Services, LLC, was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 Gulf South Award winner by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US).
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — Golf's oldest championship returns to one of the newer links courses. New is relative in this case, because Royal Portrush was founded 137 years ago. But this is only its third time hosting the British Open, and the Northern Ireland links is certain to be high on the rotation.
The R&A is expecting 278,000 spectators for the week at the British Open, which would be the second-largest crowd in the 165-year history of the championship.
Irish eyes will be on Rory McIlroy, the Masters champion and latest to win the career Grand Slam. He is embracing the expectation, unlike in 2019 when McIlroy was so emotional at the reception that he hit his first shot out of bounds and shot 79.
This is the final major of the year, and the most unusual of the four majors because of links golf, where funny bounces and pot bunkers and fickle weather can determine the winner.
Here's what you need to know going into the British Open:
The first round begins Thursday and players in groups of three all start on the first hole. Daylight is not an issue at the British Open because it doesn't get dark until about 10:30 p.m. The last group won't even tee off until a little after 4 p.m.
There is wall-to-wall coverage, along with a five-hour time difference between Northern Ireland and the East Coast of the U.S. It will start at 1:30 a.m. EDT on the Peacock streaming service, and then USA Network picks up coverage from 4 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
If you're living on the West Coast, the British Open will come on just before bedtime. For golf fans in Hawaii, it will start right after sunset on Waikiki.
The Open concludes at 3 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday, both on NBC.
Scottie Scheffler has been the favorite at every major this year, and the British Open is no exception. BetMGM Sportsbook lists Scheffler at +550, slightly ahead of home favorite Rory McIlroy at +700. They are Nos. 1 and 2 in the world.
Jon Rahm is next at +1100, followed by defending champion Xander Schauffele (+2000) and Tommy Fleetwood of England (+2200). Bryson DeChambeau is listed at +2500.
The British Open is the only major where Scheffler has not had a serious chance at winning on the back nine on Sunday. But he hasn't finished out of the top 10 since late March.
Padraig Harrington, a two-time British Open winner from Ireland, will hit the first tee shot at 6:35 a.m. local time (0135 EDT) on Thursday.
Scottie Scheffler goes out at 10:09 a.m. in the same group as Shane Lowry, the winner at Royal Portrush in 2019, and Rory McIlroy is among the later starters at 3:10 p.m.
Starting times are more important than at any other major because the British Open features 15 hours of golf in the opening rounds, and there's never any telling what the weather will do.
Players look at their starting times. And then they check the weather. There have been times when someone gets the worst of the weather on Thursday and Friday. Lowry got the best of the weather when he won six years ago.
Mixed. That's the term often used in these parts to indicate a little bit of everything, and sometimes that can be in one day.
Practice on Monday temporarily was suspended because of thunderstorms. Rain was in the forecast for parts of Tuesday and Wednesday, and there's a chance of showers pretty much every day the rest of the week. There will be sunshine. There will be wind. This is normal.
The winner gets a silver claret jug, the oldest trophy in golf. As part of a new tradition, Xander Schauffele had to return the jug to the R&A on Monday in a short ceremony. Then he has four days to win it back.
The winner also gets introduced as the “champion golfer of the year,” another tradition. He also will get a five-year exemption to the other three majors, an exemption into the British Open until age 55 (past winners could play until 60) and a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
Scottie Scheffler is No. 1 in the world and usually in contention no matter how he is playing. But this is the British Open, and this is Northern Ireland, so this week starts with Rory McIlroy. There is pressure to perform, but he also is relieved of the burden from having not won a major in 11 years. He took care of that by winning the Masters and bringing home that green jacket.
If Scheffler were to win, he would go to the U.S. Open next year for a chance at the Grand Slam.
Schauffele is trying to become the first repeat winner since Padraig Harrington in 2007 and 2008. But the Californian was slowed by a rib injury early in the year and still hasn't won yet.
British hopes lies with the likes of Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton, while Jon Rahm of Spain can also get within one leg of the Grand Slam with a British Open title.
Royal Portrush is in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. The official title is The Open Championship or simply The Open. The Associated Press, along with several U.S. newspapers, have referred it to as the British Open for more than 100 years to distinguish it from other national opens like the U.S. Open and Australian Open.
The R&A once referred to it as the “British Open” in official films in the 1950s.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Xander Schauffele of the United States, left, winner of the 2024 British Open, hands back the Claret Jug trophy to the R&A CEO Mark Darbon ahead of the 2025 British Open golf championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Fransisco Seco)
Spectators take cover under an umbrellas as play is suspended due to a thunderstorm waring during a practice round for the 2025 British Open golf championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland listens to a question from the media at a press conference ahead of the 2025 British Open golf championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
