EY Announces Dennis Maple of Goddard Systems as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Greater Philadelphia Award Finalist

Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates leading entrepreneurs who are shaping the future

Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) announced that Dennis R. Maple, Chairman and CEO of Goddard Systems, LLC, was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2024 Greater Philadelphia Award finalist. Goddard Systems is the manager of The Goddard School^® franchise system, the nation’s leader in the premium early childcare and education market segment. Now in its 38th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive business award for exceptional leaders who disrupt markets, revolutionize sectors and have a transformational impact on lives.

Over the past four decades, the program has recognized entrepreneurs with big ideas and bold actions that reshape our world. Maple was selected as a finalist by an independent panel of judges. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

Since 2019, Maple has guided The Goddard School franchise system’s growth by opening up multi-school ownership opportunities for franchisees and driving expansion into new markets that meet the needs of local families seeking access to quality, dependable childcare. Under his leadership, the Goddard franchise system has grown its number of schools by more than 25 percent. Today, the system includes more than 630 schools that employ approximately 20,000 teachers and serve almost 100,000 students across the nation.

“Our mission at Goddard is to make the world a better place through early childhood education,” said Maple. “Being recognized as a regional finalist is particularly meaningful because I have the unique privilege to lead a franchise system comprised of hundreds of small business owners and entrepreneurs. It is the people of this great system – the Goddard Systems team and the Goddard School franchisees – that continue to set the Goddard Brand apart and it is my great honor to serve them.”

Entrepreneur Of The Year honors 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.

Regional award winners will be announced on June 6 during a special celebration and will become lifetime members of an esteemed community of Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni from around the world. The winners will then be considered by the National judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum^®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.

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.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In Greater Philadelphia, sponsors also include Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN); Lockton; Marsh USA, ADP and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

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 80 countries and territories 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 World Entrepreneur Of The Year^® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

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 GODDARD SYSTEMS, LLC

Established in 1988, Goddard Systems, LLC, is the manager of The Goddard School^® franchise system. The Goddard School is the acknowledged leader in the premium early childcare and education market segment. Headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, Goddard Systems has been consistently named one of the leading franchises in the United States by Entrepreneur (#68 in the 2024 Franchise 500) and one of the top franchise systems in worldwide sales by Franchise Times (#70 in the 2023 Top 400). Additionally, Goddard Systems is included in Franchise Business Review’s Top 200 Franchises, a recognition of the best franchise opportunities based solely on ratings and reviews provided directly by franchise owners. Goddard Systems currently licenses more than 630 Goddard School franchises that serve almost 100,000 students in 37 states and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit GoddardSchoolFranchise.com.  

ABOUT THE GODDARD SCHOOL^®

Learning for fun. Learning for life.^®

Children learn best through experience. For 36 years, The Goddard School has nurtured the extraordinary in every child, employing academically endorsed methods to ensure that children have fun while learning the skills they need for long-term success in school and in life.

The Goddard School provides every child with a warm, caring and safe environment that supports their individual social, emotional and academic development and appreciates their unique talents and personalities. The Goddard School’s proprietary educational program—backed by expert knowledge, data-driven insight and unwavering compassion for growing minds—encourages children to explore their curiosities and interests as they discover the wonder of learning. A team of acknowledged experts in various fields of early childhood education guides the children through their learning journeys.

The Goddard School serves almost 100,000 students from six weeks to six years old in 37 states and Washington, D.C. To learn more about The Goddard School, please visit GoddardSchool.com.