EY announced last week that Elliot Bohm, CEO of CardCash.com, and Marc Ackerman, COO of CardCash.com, are both finalists for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2014 Award in the New Jersey region.  The awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.  Mr. Bohm and Mr. Ackerman were selected as finalists by a panel of independent judges.  Award winners will be announced at a special gala event on Thursday, June 26th at the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick.

“It’s an honor for the company and me to be recognized by such a prestigious program for what we have accomplished”, said Bohm, who co-founded the company with Mr. Ackerman in 2008. “I’m very proud of our continued growth. Being recognized as a finalist by the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ program is a testament to our hard work and continued growth.

Backed by investment firm Guggenheim Partners, CardCash.com’s secure gift card exchange allows the website to purchase gift cards from over 700 merchants, offering as much as 97% of the card’s value for cards that would otherwise go unused. CardCash then turns around and sells these cards to consumers who are happy to save as much as 35% off their everyday purchases.

Annual gift card sales exceeded $113 billion in 2013 in the United States, according to a recent survey from the CEB Tower Group, and that number is expected to continue rising. As that number continues to grow, nearly 10% of those cards go unspent every year.

“The economy may be turning around, but for many Americans times are still tough”, says CardCash.com co-founder and COO, Marc Ackerman. “Our service has been helping hundreds of thousands of consumers since 2008 stretch their dollar by cashing in their gift cards and buying discount gift cards to their favorite stores. We help regular, hard-working Americans save money and keep the American dream alive; we are proud of that, and being recognized as a finalist by EY lends credence to what we do on a day-to-day basis.”

Now in its 28th year, the EY program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities in more than 60 countries throughout the world.

Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year National program.  Award winners in several national categories, as well as the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 15, 2014. The awards are the culminating event of the EY Strategic Growth Forum®, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies.