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Press release
30 Apr 2024
EY Announces Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Pacific Southwest Award Finalists
Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates ambitious entrepreneurs who are shaping the future
Irvine, CA April 30, 2024 – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced the finalists for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Pacific Southwest Award. The Pacific Southwest program celebrates entrepreneurs from California (San Diego & Orange County) Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Hawaii. Now in its 38th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive business award for audacious leaders who disrupt markets, revolutionize industries and have a transformational impact on lives. Over the past four decades, the program has recognized the daring entrepreneurs with big ideas and bold actions that reshape our world.
These 47 entrepreneurs were selected as finalists by an independent panel of judges. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.
"This year's finalists are bold entrepreneurs creating a lasting impression in their industries and communities," said Kevin Mc Holland, Partner and Pacific Southwest – Arizona Program Co-Director. "Selected by an independent panel of judges, these trailblazers demonstrate unwavering dedication to their companies, customers and communities. We are delighted to recognize their successes."
Entrepreneur Of The Year honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.
The 2024 Pacific Southwest finalists are:
Rajeev Kapur | 1105 Media | Newport Beach, California
Heather Aiu and Rachael Leina'ala Soares | ALOHA Collection | Encinitas, California
Ming-I Huang | Aracari Biosciences, Inc. | Irvine, California
Joe Payne | Arcturus Therapeutics | San Diego, California
Nick Mansour | Arizona College of Nursing | Phoenix, Arizona
Ishan Patel | Audien Hearing | Scottsdale, Arizona
Rich Yang | Biolinq Incorporated | San Diego, California
Jake Brander | Brander Group Inc. | Scottsdale, Arizona
Doug Jackson | CALI | Encinitas, California
Arthur Kuan | CG Oncology, Inc. | Irvine, California
Zach Bradford | CleanSpark | Henderson, Nevada
Tim Mobley | Connext Global Solutions | Honolulu, Hawaii
Arvin Wijay | Consolidated Analytics | Santa Ana, California
Ed Evans | Consumer Cellular | Scottsdale, Arizona
Scott Struthers | Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | San Diego, California
Joshua Britton | Debut | San Diego, California
Russ Perry | Design Pickle | Scottsdale, Arizona
Joshua Church and Rob Church | Edge Theory Labs, Inc. | Carlsbad, California
Matt Thompson | Endologix LLC | Irvine, California
Hugh Lytle | Equality Health LLC | Scottsdale, Arizona
Sanjeev Aggarwal | Everspin Technologies | Chandler, Arizona
Christine Zack | Fiore Industries/Fiore Global Enterprises | Las Vegas, Nevada
Ron Dutt | Flux Power | Vista, California
Tej Patel | Fluxergy | Irvine, California
Christophe Schilling | Genomatica, Inc. | San Diego, California
Brian Rauso | Green Cheek Beer Co | Orange, California
Kevin Bassalleck | Gridworks, Inc. | Albuquerque, New Mexico
Tom Miller | Iambic Therapeutics | San Diego, California
Jeffrey Janicik | Innoflight, LLC | San Diego, California
Steve Carroll and Steve Nicholson | Kelso Industries LLC | Phoenix, Arizona
Susan Kim | Kopari Beauty | La Jolla, California
Kevin Lind | Longboard Pharmaceuticals | La Jolla, California
Josh Hartmann | NexMetro Communities | Phoenix, Arizona
Chris Karkenny | NVISION Eye Centers | Aliso Viejo, California
Jennifer Barnes | Optima Office | San Diego, California
Todd Watts | PatientFi | Irvine, California
Don Steiner | Profit Recovery Partners | Santa Ana, California
Brandon Tseng and Ryan Tseng | Shield AI | San Diego, California
Josh Snow | Snow Cosmetics LLC | Phoenix, Arizona
Tammy Cooper | Technologent | Irvine, California
Brett Turner | Trovata | Solana Beach, California
Juliana Elstad | Vibrato Medical | Newport Beach, California
Louis Basile | Wildflower | Scottsdale, Arizona
Learn more about the finalists at ey.com/us/eoypacificsouthwest
Regional award winners will be announced on June 7, 2024 during a special celebration. The winners will then be considered by the National independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.
In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network and access needed to unlock their full potential.
Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, Marsh USA, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In the Pacific Southwest, sponsors also include platinum sponsors: Marsh McLennan Agency and Vaco; gold sponsors: Cooley (San Diego market) and Stradling (Orange County market) and silver sponsors: Big Picture and DLA Piper (Arizona market).
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally.
The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.
About EY
EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.
Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.
Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.
EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.
