CHANDLER, AZ, May 1, 2002 - Eileen Joy Shrout-Spitalny, co-founder of Fairytale Brownies®, an Arizona-based mail-order gourmet brownie company, was awarded the 2002 University of Southern California Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The ceremony was held April 25, 2002 at the Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles.

The award is presented by the Lloyd Grief Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in the Marshall School of Business during the annual banquet at USC's Town & Gown. The USC Marshall School of Business has established itself as a renowned center for business education and research and was ranked #5 in 2002 for its entrepreneurship program by U.S. News and World Report. Previous recipients of the USC Entrepreneur of the Year Award include Lloyd Grief, Thomas Knapp and Howard Geller.

In her acceptance speech, Eileen talked about her recipe for success: be flexible, listen to those around you and always be open to change. Eileen noted that after 10 years as a business owner, some of the best ideas don't come from her, but from those around her. She thanked her family, friends and Advisory Board for making her Fairytale come true.

Eileen co-founded Fairytale Brownies in 1992 with her childhood friend, David Kravetz. For the past 10 years, they have been baking gourmet Belgian chocolate brownies from scratch in 12 flavors using only the finest ingredients. A variety of gift packaging including wood keepsake and custom logo boxes are available. All Fairytale Brownies products are certified Kosher and can be shipped worldwide.