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