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Leaders & Innovators: John Bornoty

John Bornoty is founder of The Big Salad LLC in Grosse Pointe. The Big Salad is a restaurant chain specializing in custom salads, soups, and sandwiches. Bornoty opened the first Big Salad in 2008 and now has seven locations with plans to continue rapid expansion. The company has been named a 2014 "Michigan 50 Companies to Watch" by Michigan Celebrates Small Business, and was recently recognized in Crain's Detroit Business'  Salute to Entrepreneurs as the winner in the up to $5 million category. Bornoty's entrepreneurial background began at 15 when he launched T.N.T. Entertainment, a concert promotion company. He was then recruited to join A&M Cos. as the special events director, moving quickly to vice president of sales and marketing, where he was responsible for opening more than a dozen offices nationwide, with sales exceeding $20 million. In 1995, he founded Netgroup Inc., an Internet solutions provider, and the following year also launched Interactive Media Broadcasting Co., which became the first company to broadcast live on the Internet. The Detroit Free Press named Bornoty one of the top five "Star Techies" in Michigan. He also appeared on the cover of Tokyo's PlayGraph magazine as an American technology innovator. After he retired from Netgroup, he founded Bornoty Holdings to invest in and manage various companies that need help identifying their goals and strategies. Since 2005, he has assisted companies in the technology, insurance, payroll, and food and beverage industries. Bornoty has served as president and board member of the Detroit Executives Association and as a director of Notre Dame High School. Other boards and committees on which he has served include the Young Entrepreneurs Association and the technology committee of the Detroit Athletic Club. He received his bachelor's degree in marketing and public relations from Wayne State University.  Read the full profile at www.ltu.edu/leaders.

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