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Charles Ergen started EchoStar Communications Corporation in 1980 under the name of EchoSphere which sold C-band satellite TV dishes to rural homes in Colorado . Under his vision and leadership EchoStar launched DISH Network in 1996 which has become the fastest growing direct-to-home satellite television company in the United States . In 2001 Ergen was the first person to ever win the Rocky Mountain News' Business Person of the Year for a second time being recognized for the same award in 1996. Ergen was recently named to the Forbes Magazine Top Ten CEO's list and as the Frost & Sullivan 2001 CEO of the Year for Satellite Industry. In 2000 Aviation Week Magazine named him Space Industry Business Man of the Year. In June 1991 INC. Magazine named him Master Entrepreneur of the Year for the Rocky Mountain region. In 1988 he received the Home Satellite TV Association Star Award. Ergen was instrumental in fighting for consumer rights with the passage of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act in 1999 which gave American consumers the right to watch local TV channels via satellite. He has also testified before Congress regarding other video competition issues on numerous occasions and was a co-founder of the Satellite Broadcasting Communications Association. He received his B.S. in General Business and Accounting from the University of Tennessee and his M.B.A from the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University . | 