Entrepreneur Of The Year® Pacific Southwest

Honoring the ambitious entrepreneurs who are shaping the future.

Nominations for 2026 Entrepreneur Of The Year® are now open. Nominate or apply by February 27, 2026.


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 60 countries globally.

This program honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. We celebrate 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 Pacific Southwest program includes Orange County and San Diego, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Hawaii. Each year, a panel of independent judges selects regional finalists and winners who are recognized during an awards celebration in June. The regional 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 the Entrepreneur Of The Year Hall of Fame to search our directory of past award winners.



2025 regional winners


Program information


2025 regional winners are building the economy of tomorrow

They generated $11b in revenue in 2024
They experienced 15% average revenue growth*
They employed more than 10K people in 2024
They experienced 45% median employee growth*
*Over the most recent three-year period


Entrepreneur Of The Year Pacific Southwest team

Rachael Marini 
Program Director

Jon Smith
Program Director

Ed Koijane
Program Director

Lindsay Braverman
Program Director


Jennifer Reed
Program Manager

Becca Kinsey
Program Coordinator

Ram Christian Reyes
Program Coordinator



Entrepreneurs Accelerated

Fast-forward growth through knowledge, connections and support. Hone your competitive edge at every stage of your company’s growth — so you can dream bigger, scale faster and achieve more.

Founded and produced by
EY logo

Presented by

PNC logo
Marsh
Kauffman Foundation logo

Regionally sponsored by


Gold sponsors

ADP logo
Stradling logo

Orange County



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