EY US announces Gabriel Rio of Milestone Environmental Services as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2025 Gulf South Award Winner

Celebrating the bold leaders shaping the future through the world’s most ground-breaking companies

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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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).

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:

• Sheila Mikhail of AskBio
• Caryn Seidman Becker and Ken Cornick of CLEAR
• James Park of Fitbit
• Arthur Blank of The Home Depot
• Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC
• Reed Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn
• Saiju Jeong of Noom
• Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee Company
• Jodi Berg of Vitamix
• Michael Happe of Winnebago Industries
• Amanda Baldwin and Holly Thaggard of Supergoop!

 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

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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 CO₂e 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.

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