EY Announces Winners of the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2017 Greater Los Angeles Region Awards

EY builds on three decades of honoring exceptional entrepreneurs in the Greater Los Angeles Region

2017 Entrepreneur of the Year Greater Los Angeles Region winners (Photo: Business Wire)

LOS ANGELES--()--EY is pleased to announce the winners of the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017 Greater Los Angeles Region Awards. The program recognizes business leaders in more than 145 cities in 60 countries throughout the world who have disrupted industries, created new product categories, and successfully brought new innovation and technology to traditional industries. The Greater Los Angeles Region award recipients were unveiled at a black-tie awards gala on June 15, 2017, at The Beverly Hilton. Hosted by FOX 11 news anchor Christine Devine, the gala was attended by more than 600 of the Greater Los Angeles area’s elite business leaders and entrepreneurs. This group of leading entrepreneurs was selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous award winners, leading CEOs, investors and other regional business leaders.

“EY has been recognizing leading entrepreneurs for over three decades, and it’s really impressive to think about how their businesses and ideas have changed our lives since the inception of the program,” said Scott Porter, Entrepreneur Of The Year Greater Los Angeles Region Program Co-Director. “This year’s class of winners are no different. They’re creating jobs, disrupting industries, and providing services and solutions that are improving our economy and our world and making people take note of the innovative companies in the Greater Los Angeles area.”

The Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017 Greater Los Angeles Region Award recipients are:

24Hr HomeCare | David Allerby, Co‐Founder and Chief Executive Officer; Ryan Iwamoto, Co‐Founder and Chief Marketing Officer; and Tyner Brenneman‐Slay, Co‐Founder and Chief Operating Officer
Direct Relief | Thomas Tighe, President and Chief Executive Officer
HATCHBEAUTY Products | Tracy Holland, Co‐Founder and Chief Executive Officer
KabaFusion | Dr. Sohail Masood, President and Chief Executive Officer
TaskUs | Bryce Maddock, Co‐Founder and Chief Executive Officer; Jaspar Weir, Co‐Founder and President
TrackR | Chris Herbert, Co‐Founder and Chief Executive Officer; Christian Johan Smith, Co‐Founder and President
Xencor | Bassil Dahiyat, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and President
Yamibuy | Alex Zhou, Founder and Chief Executive Officer

These entrepreneurs now join the ranks of 31 years of winners. As a group, the 2017 Greater Los Angeles Region award winners have made a significant mark on innovation and the economy. Collectively, this year’s award recipients employ more than 14,000 people and earned annual revenues of $1.3 billion.

Also honored at the Greater Los Angeles Region event were Ashley Marin and Aryadna Ricardez, founders of Click ‘N’ Brush. Marin and Ricardez received the 2017 EY Youth Scholarship for their business idea: a toothbrush made of silicon and stainless steel that contains an ultraviolet light in the cap to disinfect the brush head. In recognition of their entrepreneurial venture, Marin and Ricardez were awarded a $5,000 scholarship at the gala.

Regional award winners are eligible for consideration in the Entrepreneur Of The Year National program. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced at the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 18, 2017. The awards are the culminating event of the Strategic Growth Forum™, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner then moves on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in Monaco in June 2018. Since its founding in 1986, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities in more than 60 countries throughout the world.

To learn more about the Greater Los Angeles Region program, please visit www.ey.com/us/eoy/greaterla. Join the conversation on social media by following us @EY_EOYUS and using #EOYGLA.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by EY, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored in the US by SAP America, Merrill Corporation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In the Greater Los Angeles Region, the gold sponsor is Tangram; the silver sponsors are Avison Young, Ballard Spahr, Big Picture, Cresa, HighTower | Acacia Wealth Advisors, Vaco and Woodruff Sawyer & Company; the media sponsor is C-Suite Media; and the public relations sponsor is Olmstead Williams Communications.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year®

Entrepreneur Of The Year, founded by EY, is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for entrepreneurs, chosen from an independent panel of judges including entrepreneurs and prominent leaders from business, finance and the local community. The program makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global awards program of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities in more than 60 countries. ey.com/eoy

About EY’s Growth Markets Network

EY’s worldwide Growth Markets Network is dedicated to serving the changing needs of high-growth companies. For more than 30 years, we’ve helped many of the world’s most dynamic and ambitious companies grow into market leaders. Whether working with international mid-cap companies or early stage, venture-backed businesses, our professionals draw upon their extensive experience, insight and global resources to help your business succeed. For more information, please visit us at ey.com/sgm or follow our news on Twitter @EY_Growth.

About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

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. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young LLP, a client-serving member of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US.

Contacts

Olmstead Williams Communications
Tracy Williams, +1-310-824-9000
tracy@olmsteadwilliams.com
or
Ernst & Young LLP
Sara Nazarian, +1-213-240-7557
sara.nazarian@ey.com

Contacts

Olmstead Williams Communications
Tracy Williams, +1-310-824-9000
tracy@olmsteadwilliams.com
or
Ernst & Young LLP
Sara Nazarian, +1-213-240-7557
sara.nazarian@ey.com