DURHAM, N.H. – Jackie Eastwood, co-founder and CEO of Salient Surgical Technologies, Inc., was recognized for her entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to the state and the University of New Hampshire at the 2018 Holloway Innovation-to-Market Competition. Eastwood received the Paul J. Holloway Entrepreneur of the Year Award during the annual business competition’s 30^th year.

An entrepreneur and philanthropist who has lived in Durham for 18 years, Eastwood is the retired co-founder and CEO of Salient Surgical Technologies Inc., which was sold to Medtronic for $550 million. Prior to Salient, Eastwood was a vice president with Medtronic, Inc., from 1987 to 1998. Prior to Medtronic, Eastwood was director of sales & marketing for Impra, Inc. and area manager for Pitney Bowes, Inc.

“The entrepreneur of the year award is for an individual with a strong record in New Hampshire’s entrepreneurial community, a willingness to mentor our students and an appreciation of our educational mission,” said Jeffrey Sohl, director of the Center for Venture Research and professor entrepreneurship and decision sciences. “Jackie embodies all three of these qualities.”

Eastwood has served on a number of private and public company boards. She currently is a member of the University System of New Hampshire board of trustees and serves on the board of directors for the Wentworth-Douglass Foundation. She is a founder of The Global Child, a school for street children in Cambodia, and also chairman of the board of Quatic Apparel, a privately-held company based in Troy, NY, that makes and markets proprietary inflatable life vests.