Home Depot's Arthur Blank Named Overall Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The

Year(R) 2005 National Winner

PALM SPRINGS, Calif., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Arthur M. Blank,
co-founder of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD), was named today the
Overall Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 National Award
Winner. Blank is also the owner and chief executive officer of the
Atlanta Falcons NFL team and the Georgia Force arena football team.

"Arthur Blank exemplifies the very best in entrepreneurial spirit,"
said James S. Turley, chairman and CEO, Ernst & Young LLP. "Blank took
a simple idea and turned it into the world's largest home improvement
retailer, while never forgetting the communities that supported his
success. We are pleased to honor him as the Ernst &Young Entrepreneur
of the Year."

Blank was honored as both the Overall Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of
The Year national award winner as well as the national winner in the
Retail & Consumer Products Category at a gala in Palm Springs. Awards
were given in 10 additional categories. All Ernst & Young Entrepreneur
Of The Year winners were selected from approximately 400 regional
award recipients by an independent panel of judges.

Blank and the company's co-founder opened the first three Home Depot
stores in 1979. Today, The Home Depot is a household name with more
than 1,900 stores throughout North America -- with a new store opening
every 48 hours. More than 22 million people visit a Home Depot store
each week.

Becoming the Competitor He Feared

Blank was born and raised in the Flushing, Queens section of New York
City. After graduating from Babson College in 1964, he did stints in
public accounting and his family's small pharmaceutical company. Later
he joined Handy Dan Improvement Centers, eventually becoming the CFO.
While there, his biggest concern was the emergence of a
warehouse-style competitor. He believed Handy Dan could not compete
against a big store that offered a lot of merchandise, good service
and low prices.

In 1978, he decided to become that competitor and started The Home
Depot. As the company grew, Blank listened to his company's sales
associates and customers to make changes to their stores. By 1980,
Blank took the rapidly growing company public. The Home Depot
initiated free in-store "how to" clinics -- helping people improve
their home improvement skills -- and offered design and decorating
consulting. They later added home delivery and tool and truck rentals.

Today the average Home Depot is 106,000 square feet and offers more
than 40,000 products. During Blank's 23 years at the company, Home
Depot's sales rose at a compound annual rate of 46 percent, while
earnings rose at a compound annual rate of 49 percent. Today, the
company has sales of $73 billion, employing more than 325,000
associates.

Football Learns from Blank's Leadership Skills

In 2002, Blank took on a new leadership challenge, purchasing the
NFL's Atlanta Falcons. At the time, the team was struggling both on
and off the field, and ticket sales were weak. Just as he had done at
Home Depot, Blank began to meet with customers, in this case fans, to
find out what they wanted. The answer: lower ticket prices, a better
game-day experience and an owner committed to winning. Today, the
Falcons are one of the top teams in the league, with a waiting list
for season tickets 44,000 strong.

Building Businesses and Communities

During Blank's tenure at The Home Depot, the company donated more than
$113 million to the communities it serves. At the same time, Home
Depot associates donated hundreds of thousands of hours to perform
community service -- in some cases side-by-side with Blank himself.

Blank has also made community giving a key focus of the Falcons
football organization. The Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation is the
largest team-funded foundation in the NFL, supporting physical fitness
and sports through grants, strategic partnerships and signature
programs. In the past three years, the foundation has awarded more
than $4.3 million to 160 non-profit groups in Georgia, and the Falcons
organization devoted nearly 3,000 hours to community work.

Today, Blank spends much of his time tending to the Arthur M. Blank
Family Foundation, which he created to support the community both
financially and through personal involvement. The foundation focuses
on four areas: helping young children, assisting high school students,
developing parkland in the Atlanta area and supporting the arts. The
foundation has provided more than $160 million to numerous
non-profits, and Blank has committed the bulk of his estate to the
foundation, to ensure its future.

Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 National Finalists in Retail & Consumer
Products Category

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year national finalists in the
Retail & Consumer Products Category were Richard J. Heckmann, chairman
and CEO of K2 Inc. (NYSE: KTO) in Carlsbad, California, maker of
branded consumer products for sports and adventure activities; Leonard
H. Lavin, chairman emeritus of Alberto-Culver (NYSE: ACV), a
multinational manufacturer and marketer of hair, beauty care and
household products based in Melrose Park, Illinois; and Nicholas F.
Taubman, retired chairman and CEO of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:
AAP), an automotive aftermarket parts and accessories retailer
headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia.

Additional Entrepreneur Of The Year Category Award Winners

* James E. Stowers, Jr. of Kansas City-based American Century Investments

was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 national

winner in the Financial Services Category.

* R. Christopher Hoehn-Saric of Baltimore-based Educate, Inc.

(Nasdaq: EEEE) was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year

2005 national winner in the Services Category.

* Nancy T. Richards and Lisa Barrentine of Addison, Texas-based First

Preston Management, Inc. were named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of

The Year 2005 national winners in the Supporter of Entrepreneurship

Category.

* Scott M. Jarus of j2 Global Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: JCOM) in Los

Angeles was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005

national winner in the Media/Entertainment/Communications Category.

* Peter C. Farrell of ResMed Inc. (NYSE: RMD) based in San Diego was

named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 national winner

in the Health Sciences Category.

* Dr. James H. Goodnight of North Carolina-based SAS was named the Ernst

& Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 national winner in the Technology

Category.

* Stephen Kaufer of TripAdvisor, Inc. in Massachusetts was named the

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 national winner in the

Realizing Business Potential Category.

* Tracy W. Krohn, who leads W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE: WTI) in Houston,

was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 national

winner in the Distribution/Manufacturing/Security Category.

* William Lyon of William Lyon Homes, Inc. (NYSE: WLS) based in Orange

County, California was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year

2005 national winner in the Real Estate/Hospitality/Construction

Category.

Lifetime Achievement Award Presented to Jack and Peter Herschend

Jack and Peter Herschend, co-founders and co-owners of Herschend
Family Entertainment Corporation (HFE) were also honored today at the
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards ceremony in Palm
Springs. The brothers received the Ernst & Young International
Lifetime Achievement Award for Activism, Entrepreneurship and
Leadership. HFE owns, operates or partners in 20 entertainment
properties in eight states including numerous properties in Branson,
Missouri as well as Stone Mountain Park in Georgia, the Hawaiian Falls
water parks in Dallas and Dollywood theme park in Tennessee.

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Program is nationally
sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The program's
Realizing Business Potential Award is presented by Microsoft to honor
smaller companies that have demonstrated success and growth by
leveraging computer-related technology in their businesses.

About The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year(R) Program

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Program was created and is
produced by professional services firm Ernst & Young LLP. As the first
award of its kind, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award
recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading
dynamic and growing businesses. The program honors entrepreneurs
through regional, national and global award programs in over 100
cities and 35 countries.

About Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young, a global leader in professional services, is committed
to restoring the public's trust in professional services firms and in
the quality of financial reporting. Its 106,000 people in 140
countries pursue the highest levels of integrity, quality, and
professionalism in providing a range of sophisticated services
centered on our core competencies of auditing, accounting, tax, and
transactions. Further information about Ernst & Young and its approach
to a variety of business issues can be found at
http://www.ey.com/perspectives. Ernst & Young refers to all the
members of the global Ernst & Young organization.

About the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City is a private,
nonpartisan foundation that works with partners to advance
entrepreneurship in America and improve the education of children and
youth. The Kauffman Foundation was established in the mid-1960s by the
late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman.
Information about the Kauffman Foundation is available at
http://www.kauffman.org.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses
realize their full potential.

Contact:

Nicole M. Thomas Melissa Young

Ernst & Young 612-708-2654

213-977-3348 mel@heymanproductions.com

310-570-5803 (cell)

nicole.thomas@ey.com SOURCE Ernst & Young LLP

-0- 11/20/2005

/NOTE TO EDITORS: INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST/

/CONTACT: Nicole M. Thomas of Ernst & Young, +1-213-977-3348,
+1-310-570-5803 cell, nicole.thomas@ey.com; or Melissa Young for Ernst
& Young, +1-612-708-2654, mel@heymanproductions.com/

/Web site: http://www.ey.com

http://www.ey.com/perspectives

http://www.kauffman.org /