Excellence in Entrepreneurship Nominees - 2006

5 Minute Networking, Newport Beach

Sonia English, CEO

Melissa English, COO

Founded in 2004, 5 Minute Networking combines the best of speed dating and networking meetings into an efficient, effective and fun means for making business contacts. In the company's first full year in 2005,

The company stages networking events using a proprietary patent-pending Event Facilitation Software program that enables participants to meet up to 20 people one on one in five-minute increments. The system not only maximizes results for participants but expedites event planning as well.

Alumni organizations and Chambers of Commerce have tapped into the program, licensing the software for their own uses. In January, the company reached a milestone with clientele membership passing the 1 million mark nationwide. 5 Minute Networking also is used for corporate teambuilding events, receptions and other networking forums.

Advanced Medical Optics, Santa Ana

James V. Mazzo, President and CEO

Mazzo heads a global ophthalmic medical device company spun off from Allergan in 2002. In four years, revenue has climbed to almost $1 billion in 2005 and the company has more than 3,500 employees. To become an ophthalmic products leader, Mazzo strengthened its core business, increased its visibility and established a climate for accelerated growth. In 2004, AMO acquired Pfizer's ophthalmic surgical business; last year, it acquired VISX Inc., a maker of LASIK equipment. Now, Mazzo is working to eliminate older products to focus on the future, despite the prospective loss of revenue the older products bring.

The company's sales have grown at twice the rate of bigger competitors. And a new product set to launch in the next two years will fuel additional growth.

Mazzo sits on numerous professional boards and is a trustee at Chapman University, the UCI Foundation and the University of San Diego.

American Technologies and Restoration, Orange

Gary Moore, Principal

From a single office in 1989, Moore has grown this environmental restoration company into one of the nation's leading residential and commercial restoration and environmental companies. Today, the company has more than $50 million in annual revenue and offices throughout California and in Las Vegas. It is certified to work in 13 states.

Restoration services include resolving problems caused by fire, flood, wind, asbestos, lead, mold or other hazardous materials. Projects have ranged from post-earthquake restoration in Seattle and lead abatement for the U.S. Air Force to restoration at the Reno-Tahoe Airport after a flood. This year, it has worked on projects resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in the Gulf Coast.

The company's workshops on these topics are certified for CEU credits with several professional organizations.

What's more, Moore emphasizes empathy in restoration projects and with employees. His philanthropic activities include CHOC and Toys for Tots.

Anaheim White House, Anaheim

Bruno Serato, Owner

An Italian immigrant who grew up in Europe, Serato bought this restaurant less than a decade after arriving in the U.S. Today, the 300-seat White House is one of the best-known restaurants in Anaheim and caters special events in its private dining rooms. It will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. Developers of the new Platinum Triangle have approached Serato about the possibility of relocating.

Last year, Serato received the Cornerstone Humanitarian of the Year Award from the National Restaurant Association. The Anaheim White House has earned three-star ratings from Mobil Guide and an International Star Diamond award from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences.

Serato supports the Boys & Girls Clubs, and formed Caterina's Girls (named for his mother) to help low-income children. He also supports programs for low-income elderly. These efforts, earned him the title of Citizen of the Year from the Cypress College Foundation.

Antonello Ristorante, Santa Ana

Antonio Cagnolo, Owner and Operator

Antonello has been a staple for dining in the South Coast Plaza area since 1979. Cagnolo founded the award-winning restaurant just four years after he came to the U.S. from his native Italy. He attended hotel and restaurant management schools and worked at hotels in Europe before coming to California.

Throughout its 27-year history, the 70-employee Antonello has set a standard for Old World service in a new world environment. The restaurant also hosts dinners for local charities that include the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, CHOC and the Marconi Foundation for Kids. He also created a line of pasta sauces whose proceeds support several children's charities.

The restaurant has won the Southern California Restaurant Writers' Golden Scepter award for 10 consecutive years and the AAA Four Diamond Award for 11 consecutive years. Last year, the restaurant received the American Academy of Hospitality Science's Five Star Diamond award.

AquaVor, Tustin

Andrew Durant, Founder, CEO, President

AquaVor Inc. is a four-year-old company that was the outgrowth of Durant's previous venture-a plantcare service called Botanical Arts he started in 1984. Over the years, requests for help with clients' home plants led him and a business partner to develop a combination watering can and plant feeder that automatically feeds plants whenever they are watered.

The AquaVor Total Plant Care System-designed in Durant's garage-took off and is now carried at Green Thumb, Green Arrow and other retail outlets in California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York and in Canada. It has been featured on HGTV and CNN Weekend.

Durant and partner Steve Baranek later developed a smaller version of AquaVor and a VorChem pump sprayer. Products have been tested and approved by the National Home Gardening Club. He continues to develop new products, including modified versions of the original watering/feeding can.

Arbonne International, Irvine

Bob Henry, CEO

Arbonne got its start in Switzerland in 1975. Henry brought it to the U.S. in 1980, selling products for skincare, cosmetics, nutrition, weight loss and aromatherapy through a network of independent consultants that numbered more than 300,000 in 2005. The program is a home-based business opportunity in a $100 billion industry. The new Figure 8 Vanish cellulite system is its newest product.

Henry has two decades of global network marketing, direct sales and advertising and a passion for direct marketing that has helped him build the network in the U.S. The company has been featured in Woman's World and other print media.

Last year, consultants helped raise $150,000 for the American Red Cross; this year, the goal has been raised to $200,000.

Arc Investment Partners LLC, Beverly Hills and Orange County

Adam Roseman, Founder, Chairman and CEO

Launched last September, Arc Investment Partners is the first company of its kind, providing an alternative to traditional late-stage venture capital, private equity and M&A options. Arc focuses on institutionalizing reverse merger transactions through a full suite of equity financial services, a process the company calls Merger IPO.

Roseman, a former investment banker, has executed investment banking transactions that total more than $20 billion and touch numerous industries.

He also is a founding member of the board of directors of Generation NeXt, a political action committee for young business leaders and is a frequent speaker on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance at industry conferences.

His personal experience with Big Brother Big Sisters as a child has led him to support this organization through board seats in both Orange County and Los Angeles. He also holds a leadership position on the Cedars-Sinai Sports Spectacular annual awards program.

Austin Taylor, Anaheim

Ron Viggiano, President and Co-Founder; Dave Welch, Chief Vision Officer and Co-Founder

Austin Taylor, a six-year-old custom tailoring business, has combined the marketing, fashion and business talents of its partners to bring customized wardrobes to businessmen. Austin Taylor has grown at more than 40% annually, increasing revenue from about $.5 million in 2000 to roughly $2 million in 2005. The goal is to make shopping a positive experience for men. Last year, they opened a second location in Irvine.

The Austin Taylor showroom has a VIP lounge with a big-screen TV, pool table and stereo system. But its main purpose is for consultation with clients like Matt Ouimet, president of the, Disneyland Resort; Garret Anderson, outfielder for Anaheim-based Angels Baseball; and Paul Folino, CEO of Emulex Corp. The 11-person company has been featured on ABC's "Extreme Makeover" and Fine Living Channel's he Insider List."

The partners are involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Research foundation and Working Wardrobes.

Avalon Properties, Costa Mesa

Corey Donaldson, Founder

Launched in 1993, Avalon Properties founder Corey Donaldson has parlayed a $20,000 down on a property into a national real estate portfolio worth more than $20 million. The portfolio includes more than 100 apartment units, industrial storage, a motel and a restaurant.

Donaldson's entrepreneurial ventures began in high school, when he developed an asphalt seal-coating business in Connecticut that grew to become the largest such company in the state.

Donaldson and partner KyIe Kazan also operate Real Estate Investment Strategies, teaching others investment strategies that work in real estate through a seminar program.

Donaldson has been recognized for his entrepreneurial efforts by the likes of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, who named him one of the Top 100 Entrepreneurs in the U.S. He also sits on the board of directors of Rockville Centre, N.Y.-based Geneva Financial Corp., a publicly traded mortgage banking firm.

B Scene, Costa Mesa

Caren Lancona, CEO

In 2001, Lancona and a couple dozen other veteran marketing and advertising acquaintances decided to launch their own brand of marketing and advertising. The niche: small to medium-size clients who needed a cost-effective approach typically found at large agencies. The company focuses on high-energy events and campaigns and provides quick turnaround and the flexibility required by small companies seeking to be cutting-edge in their industries.

Today, it counts clients in several industries and has done work for such well-known names as Orange County Performing Arts Center and Washington Mutual.

Lancona also launched a philanthropic social club, Just Friends, in 2004 that benefits from B Scene's services. That club stages almost 30 social events each year and helps members do more effective networking.

Before the Stork 4D Ultrasound, Anaheim

Terri Siegel, Co-Founder and Co-Owner

Kim Welch, Co-Founder and Co-Owner

This mother-daughter team founded Before the Stork last year in an effort to provide cutting-edge technology to expectant parents. The advanced technology made available to them through the parent company of the franchise enables parents to see an image (not a shadow) of babies in the womb. The process, which costs roughly $200 per scan, is performed in a spa-like setting.

In one year, this team has seen more than 1,300 clients-20% of them from referrals. Dozens of OB/GYNs in the county refer patients. Clearview Ultrasound, the parent company, recognized them for the speed at which they achieved the goal of 100 scans per month.

The company has been featured in several pregnancy magazines, local print media and on Discovery Health Channel, TLC and Oxygen Networks on TV. They plan to open two more centers within 18 months-in Aliso Viejo and Long Beach.

Bella Casa, Newport Beach

Sabrina Dagostino, President and Founder

Dagostino began her homebuilding venture, Bella Casa Building Coordinators, eight years ago to provide a coordination service for homeowners. As an engineer, attorney and broker, she has the experience to assist in working with architects, contractors and interior designers as well as helping homeowners acquire or build their homes. She has worked with homeowners in exclusive Orange County areas such as Emerald Bay, Shady Canyon and Corona del Mar. As a broker, she also operates Bella Casa Properties and Mortgage.

She is a member of the State Bar of California, the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Orange County Bar Association and the Building Industry Association.

As a sideline, she is part owner and managing partner of the new Ami Beaucoup Restaurant and Martini Lounge in Newport Beach.

bkm Development, Costa Mesa

Brian Malliet, Managing Partner

Malliet had a successful career at Voit Commercial Brokerage when he walked away to become an entrepreneur. He founded bkm Development in 2002. In its first year, the company landed five major projects worth more than $100 million. By 2005, that had grown to six major industrial projects totaling 1.7 million square feet worth more than $200 million. Based on 2004 performance, the company was ranked No. 4 among OC's largest development firms by the Business Journal last year.

Malliet has strengthened his relationships with financial investors and has now expanded to residential development in Florida.

The company specializes in infill projects that bring a higher and better use to old industrial sites, thereby benefiting the communities and creating new jobs.

Last year, bkm supported Anaheim Firefighters and Orangewood Children's home. This year, employees have the option to suggest charities for the company to support throughout the year.

Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP, Newport Beach

Keith G. Bremer, Founding Partner

After earning a reputation as an aggressive and effective litigator and negotiator at Smith, Smith & Kring, Bremer started his own firm in 1997. The firm already has grown to a staff of more than 60. It has 'additional offices in L.A., San Diego, Riverside, Las Vegas and Phoenix and maintains a presence in Northern California, Oregon; Washington and Colorado.

The firm is experienced in corporate transactional law and business litigation, focusing n issues that include corporate partnerships, employment labor issues, contract review and other complex business matters. It is committed to high quality, economic and responsive legal services and is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Clients come from a broad sector of business, from Del Taco Corp. and Covi Concrete Construction to Bravo Sports and Vector Control Joint Powers Agency.

Bremer is a frequent lecturer on topics that include insurance matters, including construction defect litigation.

C2 Reprographics, Costa Mesa

Gary Crisp, Founder, President and CEO

Julie Crisp, Founder and Executive Vice Presidenti

C2 Reprographics is a four-year-old company started to fill a niche of locally controlled reprographic shops. Crisp previously spent 19 years with Fortune 100 consumer product leaders and developed marketing, sales and teambuilding expertise that carriers over into C2.

The company has backing from a diverse group of OO businessmen, a strong production and management team and a strong focus on customer service. It is the largest independent provider of reprographic services in Orange County.

Last year, it approached $7 million in sales and has locations in Costa Mesa and Anaheim. This year, the company plans to open an office in South Orange County. Since 2004, C2 has increased its volume, made marketing and brand improvements, added employee benefits and created a Web site.

Crisp is a member of the Fathers Day Council of the American Diabetes Association for Orange County and a supporter of Human Options.

CA Future Focused Inc., San Juan Capistrano

Jennifer Connellan, Founder and President

Anne Luke, Co-Founder and Vice President

Onetime high school friends who went on to earn advanced degrees in psychology and counseling established this three-yearold company. Its goal is to provide positive life coaching for high school students. So far, 82% of their clients have improved their grades while in the Future Focused program.

Connellan and Luke help students set goals, develop a passion and create a vision for the future. They also help the students obtain skills needed to achieve their goals. Their focus on short-term, realistic goals helps students build self-confidence to reach longer-term goals in the eight-week program.

The company provides tutoring each weekday from 2:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in all high school subjects and trains all tutors to meet the standards set by the company.

In addition, the pair consults with schools on mentoring programs for entering freshmen and has created a curriculum schools can use for such programs.

California Tax Data, Irvine

Peter Placey, CEO and President

Since 1992, Placey has made a name for himself as the go-to expert in Mello-Roos and 1915 Act property tax data. He has more than 18 years of experience working with municipal bond issuers, county government and public finance entities. He worked on passing SB1122, which established the tax disclosure requirement and has worked with the California Association of Realtors and Haward Jarvis Taxpayers Association. He is a frequent speaker at real estate events.

Placey compiled, interpreted and managed building a database for every Mello-Roos and special assessment district in California. Along the way, he developed specialized expertise in complex bond funding and issuance. In 2002, California Tax Data launched the tax disclosure reporting industry with the sale of the first California Tax Disclosure Report. The company is the largest repository of tax data in the state of California.

Cascade Pumps, Santa Fe Springs

John Summerfield, Co-Owner

Tom Summerfield, Co-Owner

For the past 50 years, Cascade Pumps has manufactured high-capacity, low-lift, large custom pumping systems to over 1,500 horsepower. The company is a family-owned business started in 1948 by Tom and John's parents. Today, twins Tom and John alternate CEO duties yearly. The company is in its third generation of ownership.

The company provides equipment for flood control, water features, sewage treatment and amusement parks. It has built Pirate of the Caribbean at Disney World, made improvement at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and built an irrigation project for Iraq. The company has more than $10 million in annual revenue and added 40,000 square feet of manufacturing space in 2003.

Their personal community involvement is extensive; the company's philanthropic efforts come from their Summerfield Foundation created in honor of their parents. Beneficiaries have included Cal State Fullerton, Chapman University and St. Joseph Hospital.

Client Dynamics, Irvine

David Lee, CEO

Lee has shaped the organization and provided leadership since its inception in 2000. The company's software helps sales professionals stay on top of client news through Internet tools.

In 2003, Client Dynamics formed a strategic alliance with Dow Jones & Co. to develop Dow Jones Wealth Manager, a client contact management program for financial services professionals. Through this system, customized news is sent to clients to provide fodder for future discussions.

Last year, the company released ConnectSpark, a tool that simplifies the search for information about clients targeted to salespeople focused on multiple industries. It also added advertising industry giant DDB Worldwide as a client.

In January, Client Dynamics launched a technology partnership with Metavante Corp., an electronic banking and financial services firm, to integrate ConnectSpark with Metavante's WealthRM investment tracking and research software.

Clinical Staffing Services, Santa Ana

Calvin Nash, Partner

Warren Wilcox, Partner

Healthcare professionals Wilcox and Nash have turned this healthcare staffing company from one that was posting quarterly losses to one that has seen sales growth of more than 250%. Wilcox was previously director of marketing for a hospital system and owned a home health company. Nash previously was a vice president at a large assisted living company.

The management team provides staffing in acute care, skilled nursing, home health, assisted living, outpatient surgery, ambulatory care and adult day care services. In doing this, they fill the need of healthcare facilities for additional personnel and help healthcare professionals seeking flexible work assignments.

Because staff members have a combined 60 years of nursing, health administration and healthcare staffing experience, Clinical Staffing also assists hospitals undergo periodic evaluations by industry organizations JCAHO and AAAHC.

The company's mission is to provide the highest level of satisfaction to all clients and employees.

CoCaLo Inc., Costa Mesa

Renee Pepys Lowe, President and CEO

Lowe has followed in the family footsteps of designing and manufacturing infant bedding and accessories. She worked with her mother's firm, Noel Joanna in the same field until the company was sold in 1996. Because of the reputation the pair had developed in the industry, Lowe was offered the license to other brands in the infant category and jumped at the chance to continue in a profession she loved. CoCaLo-named for her daughters-was launched in 1998.

Now the company has 25 employees and manufacturing facilities in China and India and expects to exceed $15 million in revenue this year. CoCaLo counts clients like Babies R Us, Burlington Coat Factor and Target.

Lowe is a Brownie leader for her daughters and sits on the board of K.I.D.S. in New York. She also is a member of 44 Women, an auxiliary of Orangewood Children's Foundation.

Corporate Video and Film, Newport Beach

Joe Baldo, Founder and President

Since 1981, Baldo ha met the changing needs of companies seeking a one-stop source of high-quality video production for sales and marketing, training, recruiting, corporate communications and public relations endeavors. He has sought clients who are creative and innovative and still tries at every turn to exceed client expectations.

By the early 1990s, CVF became OC's largest video production company-a status it still enjoys today. Clients include well-known companies like El Pollo Loco, Automobile Club of Southern California, Conexant Systems and Walt Disney Entertainment. He has produced training programs for the armed forces, a marketing presentation for Chevron/Texaco for an oil exploration program and a recruiting video for Walt Disney Entertainment. He also helped produce the 50th anniversary video for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Baldo contributes pro bono services to local charities like Make A Wish, Habitat for Humanity and Second Harvest Food Bank, among others.

Crown Acquisition Inc., Aliso Viejo

Christopher Mitchell, Founder and CEO

Mitchell became a homeowner at 19 and then began buying and selling single family homes. A decade later, with 20-plus renovations under his belt (all profitable), he created Crown Acquisitions in 2003. The 10-person company purchases high-risk rental properties, renovates them and resells them. In its first year, the company generated a profit of more than $1 million.

Mitchell's efforts to upgrade properties in crimeridden neighborhoods with security features as well as upgrades to rental units has earned him recognition by real estate investors, police forces and city governments. He has improved properties in San Bernardino and in Tucson-all of which have generated a profit, realized improved occupancy and experienced declining crime rates. This year, the company will tackle another project in Tucson, completing the renovation of an entire neighborhood. The Tucson Police Department has expressed satisfaction with the reduced crime rate resulting from the two previous projects.

Dana Capital Group, Irvine

Dana Smith, Founder and CEO

Over the past 10 years, Smith has built Dana Capital into a leading mortgage lender in the region. Last year, the company posted a 40% increase in closed loan volume with 25,000 closed loan transactions at a time when the market was showing signs of peaking. The company is licensed in 48 states and has grown to a network of 3,500 employees.

Originally, the company focused only on second mortgages, but moved to first mortgages within two years. The next year, Smith started the retail network program that propelled the company's expansion.

Dana Capital supported major fundraisers with HomeAid, Habitat for Humanity and the Shea Therapeutic Riding Center in San Juan Capistrano in 2005. The company also partnered with the Santa Ana Post Office to adopt needy families last Christmas.

David-Michael Designs, Tustin

David-Michael Madigan, President, Artist and Designer

Madigan is recognized in design circles for high-end residences, model homes, corporate offices, restaurants and hotels such as the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. He's also an authority on historic home restoration and a home restoration columnist for Floral Park News.

Madigan started his career in the performing arts, but subsequently turned to interior design, a field in which he has earned accolades over an 18-year period.

Design awards include those from the American Society of Interior Designers and Residential Building Industry Association of Hawaii for The MiIo at Mililani Woodcrest in Kailua, Hawaii; best sales center design for Pasadera at PGA West in La Quinta and runner-up for best interior design for homes over $2 million for The Sycamores #2 in Shady Canyon. He supports a wide range of nonprofits in OC, including Aid for AIDS benefit, AIDS Walk Orange County and Little Fish Theatre Company.

Decisions/California Youth Services, Tustin

Brian Nissen, Co-founder and Instructor for Decisions

Martine Wehr, Co-founder and Director of Decisions

DECISIONS is a program of the California Youth Services, a division of the Boys and Girls Club of Tustin. It's a legal awareness program for juveniles and their parents or guardians that was created by Wehr and Nissen, a deputy sheriff, in an effort to reach at-risk youth before they are sent to jail. The two met as the result of a program at the OC Men's Central Jail and discovered a shared vision for teaching youth how to make good decisions that would help keep them out of trouble.

Wehr's expertise is working with children in a variety of capacities, including Juvenile Services in Orange County. Nissen is a member of the gang team and a drug recognition expert instructor for the Sheriff's Department.

Decisions strives to teach good decision-making and accountability to youth and teaches parents and guardians their liability and responsibility for their children's actions.

Equinox Corp., Irvine

Don Ganguly, CEO

Equinox is a new generation offshore business process outsourcing company focused on the financial services industry. Established in 2002, it is a fully owned subsidiary of I-Flex Solutions with more than 500 customers in more than 100 countries.

Equinox provides costeffective customer outsourcing to the lending industry primarily through its biggest operating center in India, with 500 employees.

Ganguly founded Equinox based on his experience with vertical services in financial services. He previously started Nexgenix lnc, a systems integration company sold in 2002. Now he leads a company dedicated to cost-effective, high-quality service with 24/7 capability.

He is a regular speaker at industry events and is a mentor for graduate students at Wharton School of Pennsylvania. He also is a charter member of The Indus Entrepreneur and a member of the advisory board of VAR Magazine.

Ergonique, Newport Beach

DeAnn Mix, Ph.D., CEO

Ergonique was introduced in Beverly Hills to combine spa services and medical technology tor anti-aging lifestyle management. As the concept grew, she launched Spa Med International for Ergonique centers to create a new industry that combined medical, spa and wellness treatments. In 2003, Mix partnered with Dr. Alex Martin to open the Newport Beach medical spa. The duo were forerunners in the medical spa concept, one that is gaining popularity throughout the country.

The Ergonique centers feature European spa products as well as treatments for anti-aging and human growth hormone treatments as part of a lifestyle management program.

Now, they are expanding into resorts, with the newest venture set to open in Palm Springs this summer.

Erica Dee, Corona del Mar

Erica D. Thomas, Founder

Thomas opened her boutique women's clothing store in June 2001-a year that proved to be difficult for business. The sole proprietorship thrived, posting double the projected first-year sales volume. It also received a beautification award from the local chamber of commerce for renovating the 1,450-square-foot retail space.

The boutique has become known for cuttingedge fashion and a variety of products that make it a one-stop-shop for local women. The store also hosts vendor trunk shows.

This year, Erica Dee will expand to a larger location that will offer a wider range of goods. The current location will become Erica Dee Kids, devoted to moms and expectant moms.

Erica Dee's efforts have been noted by fashion trade publications such as Vogue and Women's Wear Daily. Thomas has appeared on MTV and Fox News Style File. That has helped generate an average annual sales growth of 10%.

EZ Lube Inc., Santa Ana

Rick Teasta, Co-Founder and CEO

Teasta is a co-founder of the largest fast-lube company in California. Started in 1988, the company has grown from a single store to 75 locations and hopes to hit the 100 mark this year. In 2003, it was named the Fast-Lube Operator of the Year by the National oil and Lube News. Last year, the publication recognized the company's new Melrose location as the "Best Looking" Fast Lube in the country.

Another landmark last year was the opening of EZ Lube's first HR & Training Center in Santa Ana, the first of its kind in the fast lube industry. In addition, all service technicians must attend and pass a rigorous three-part training class.

EZ Lube focuses on exceptional preventative maintenance programs and unsurpassed customer service. Its award-winning Fleet Services Department serves major accounts in Southern California such as Enterprise and National rent a car.

(The) Feinerman Vision Center, Newport Beach

Dr. Gregg Feinerman, Medical Director

Dr. Feinerman is one of only a handful of surgeons in the nation certified to perform cutting-edge procedures to restore vision for those afflicted with conditions that LASIK does not easily address. Feinerman is a noted author and educator who has been interviewed by major TV news programs and has published numerous medical articles.

Established in 2001, The Feinerman Vision Center is recognized as one of the nation's foremost medical practices dedicated to vision correction. Feinerman specializes in complicated cases and performs laser corneal transplants using the newest laser technology.

He is chairman of the Ophthalmology at Hoag Memorial Presbyterian Hospital and is board-certified in a host of refractive surgical procedures. In addition to teaching at UCI, Dr. Feinerman is a clinical instructor for Nidek Inc. which manufactures the Nidek laser and is working on new techniques to correct the need for reading glasses.

Fine Telecommunications, Costa Mesa

Randy Fine, President

Fine Telecommunications was established in 1995 to provide cost-effective telecommunications services to its clients. Today, it is considered a leader in the industry with a roster of more than 1,700 corporate clients. Companies like Cox Communications, Mercury Insurance, Hitachi, Callahan and Blaine and lmpco Technologies are among those that have saved hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade by using Fine Telecommunications services.

The team at Fine Telecommunications strives to find the most efficient services and technologies for the business community in order to maximize its ability to compete on a global scale.

The company provides one-stop shopping for telecommunications services and recommends upgrades and improvements to client systems to gain efficiency. Fine Telecommunications also can maintain a client's communications services for everything from equipment upgrades to dispute mediation. The company employs three people.

Fishbone Marketing, Newport Beach

Nathan James, Owner and CEO

This four-year-old advertising and marketing agency was launched with the goal of becoming the best agency serving mid-market companies of $50 million to $500 million in annual revenue. The cornerstones of the company philosophy are honesty, integrity and relationships.

The full-service agency provides market research, analysis, media relations and production of print, broadcast, Web and personal presentation materials. Its target markets are the automotive, technology, chain restaurant, finance and real estate sectors.

Late last year, Fishbone moved to larger quarters. In January, the company added three employees, bringing the total to 10, including two in Albuquerque.

Fishbone does pro bono work for the American Electronics Association and has worked on the Albuquerque Balloon Festival and the 20th anniversary celebration for the New Mexico Symphony.

Local clients include Q staffing, Irvine; and Discount Tires in Huntington Beach. Fishbone also is producing a new TV ad for Barbecues Galore.

Fletcher Jones Motorcars, Newport Beach

Ted Jones Jr., CEO and President

Since 1991, Fletcher Jones Motorcars has helped revolutionize the automotive retail industry. It was among the first to offer childcare, a putting green and complimentary car washes at its showroom. It also offers a gourmet coffee bar, television lounge and computer workstations with free Wi-Fi and a retail shop with a complete line of Mercedes-Benz accessories. The dealership ranks No. 1 among U.S. Mercedes dealers, fulfilling a goal set 15 years ago. Today it occupies a 180,000-square-foot showroom. In 2004, the dealership posted annual sales of more than $500 million.

Fletcher Jones employs 375 people and supports charities and causes that include the Newport Partnership for Clean Water, the Muth Interpretive Center, the Newport Beach elementary schools and the March of Dimes. Recently, the dealership implemented a number of ecofriendly measures that include recycling programs and water reclamation efforts.

Fuscoe Engineering, Irvine

Patrick Fuscoe, President

For 24 years, Fuscoe has provided a work culture that promotes innovation. He is a master of reinvention. Initially, the company had four partners; in 1992 Fuscoe restructured into a sole proprietorship. He has been successful in both endeavors. The company has been a leader on major Orange County projects such as the Great Park, Orange County Fairgrounds, Ronald Reagan Federal Building and the Ocean Institute of Dana Point.

Fuscoe's projects also employ what he calls Full Circle Thinking that uses an eco-adaptive approach to engineering.

Today the company has 180 employees and annual revenue of more than $20 million. It was named the No. 1 Mid-Size Civil Engineering Firm in the nation in CE News Magazine's contest to find the best civil engineering firms to work for.

Fuscoe supports student and community groups and has provide pro bono services for Habitat for Humanity, HomeAid and the Ocean Institute.

(The) General Counsel, Coto De Caza

Stuart Blake, Founder

Michael Oswald, Founder

Blake and Oswald started this legal solutions outsourcing firm last year with an eye toward providing small and medium-sized businesses with cost-effective general counsel services.

Services can include part-time, interim or full-time, in-house services, depending on the client's needs. For small companies, it offers experienced legal advice while they grow. For larger companies, General Counsel provides welcome assistance when it's needed. The flexibility allows company executives to focus on their core business while realizing a cost savings in legal fees. The pair believes this concept could be a new model for the legal profession.

Blake sits on the board of directors of the YMCA of Orange County and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Orange County and Inland Empire.

Oswald is an adjunct professor of law at Western State University and serves on the board of the Southern California Chapter of the association of Corporate Counsel-America.

GR Capital/GR Capital Asset Management, Newport Beach

Todd Rustman, Co-Founder/President

Rustman started venture capital firm GR Capital in 1995, specializing in creating a diversified portfolio of companies for its private clients and institutions it represents. GR Capital Asset Management is an outgrowth of that business and is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor firm providing services in all aspects of financial planning for individuals and businesses.

Rustman is well qualified for these ventures, having worked for other firms as an investment advisor and portfolio manager before starting his company.

Partner David Gianulias, a real estate veteran, adds development expertise to the mix.

A high percentage of the firm's client base is generated by referrals.

Rustman and Gianulias also are partners in Levendi Estates, a premier winery in Napa Valley.

Rustman is a founding member of Gen-Next and past president of BRAVO, an organization for young professionals affiliated with the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

H. Hendy Associates, Irvine

Heidi Hendy, Founder/Principal

H. Hendy Associates has provided interior architectural services to a prestigious client list for more than 25 years. Clients include Nike, Toyota and Verizon. The company has been rated among the top 200 design firms since 1983 and offers a full spectrum of services from strategic planning and design to construction services and facilities management.

Last year, the firm was selected to design a 13,600-square-foot office for Workplace Resource, a business furnishings showroom in OC, and completed design for the new corporate headquarters of El Tapatio Markets.

Hendy started the business shortly after graduating from college and posted $2 million in revenue within two years. Today, the firm has $8 million in annual billings and 50 professionals on staff. Designers are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified and use sustainable materials.

H. Hendy also is known for a family-friendly work environment reflected in the longevity of staff members.

Hager Pacific Properties, Newport Beach

David Hager, Managing Partner

Adam Milstein, Managing Partner

Robert Neal, Managing Partner

Hager Pacific is a real estate investment firm guided by the philosophy of acquiring under-valued real estate that is repositioned or renovated to a higher use. Three ownermanagers lead the firm. It currently has a portfolio of more than 100 assets ranging from 25.000 square feet to 700,000 square feet and including 3,000 apartment units and 8 million square feet of industrial and commercial property.

Most recently, the company sold the 850,000square-foot Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza form more than $130 million. It will exchange the proceeds from the sale for new property by mid-year.

Hager has been involved with more than $1 billion in property acquisition and disposition since 1980. Milstein has acquired a portfolio of more than 3,000 apartment units and more than 6 million square feet of industrial and commercial properties since 1983. Neal previously was responsible for properties valued at more than $800 million.

Herrington Teddy Bears, Irvine

Chris Herrington, President and Creative Director

Herrington never intended to make custom toys, but he did design T-shirts. So when a co-worker asked him to make a tee for a teddy bear, he obliged. She displayed it at work, spurring other requests for custom designs. The rest, as they say, is history. Today the privately owned company dresses branded teddy bears for retailers and colleges, sells about half a million bears a year and generates in the neighborhood of $5 million annually.

He and brother Martin recently expanded into a 10,000-square-foot building they purchased in Irvine and sell their own line of bears-Harry and Hannah Herrington. The bears are manufactured in China. Design, sales, light assembly, shipping and storage are done from Irvine, which has a staff of 15. Clients include Mercedes-Benz, the University of Notre Dame, and Hard Rock Caf.

The brothers also produce two storybooks, which relay the adventures of Harry and Hannah.

Hidden Wineries, Canyon Lake

Madonna White, Founder and CEO

White launched the company in 2003 with the idea of promoting lesserknown U.S. wine regions through a series of books on the topic. The idea is to develop a market for niche wine regions through regional wine books that will make it easier for wine lovers to find, buy and enjoy fine regional wines. Hidden Wineries also plans to sell a full line of wine products from these regions. The first book on Southern California is available now and has won two awards. The next book will focus on New York.

Hidden Wineries is building a profit-centered company focused on three centers of growing revenue: wine sales, book sales and tourism. The company also has launched a newsletter to promote its events and products.

The company is in the process of raising capital to fund expansion and future publishing efforts with the help of a board of advisors.

Horizon Technology, Lake Forest

Kurt Johnson, CEO

Johnson spent the past decade reinventing his company almost as fast as technology has changed. He started out refurbishing personal computers, but quickly moved ahead of industry trends to become a distributor of information storage and display products.

Horizon operates on a real-time supply and demand model based on a global database of products, posting a 20% profit growth each year. Recently, Horizon partnered with Western Digital and Seagate in a move that should help it generate more than $50 million in 2006 revenue.

The company has had revenue growth of 2,500% in the first five years. In 2004, it moved to new headquarters in Lake Forest and still aims to be a world-class distributor of information storage and LCD display products. Last year, it merged with K-Tronics International.

Future growth is expected from the Display Solutions Group, which focuses on LCD displays for military, industrial computing and other applications.

IPFones USA, Garden Grove

Roxanne Chow, CEO

IP Phones is the second venture launched by Chow, whose family fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Through her first company, Global Finance & Investments Inc., she works with Asian clients to acquire real estate and locate financing for property in the U.S.

Now she is a majority stakeholder in IPFones, which holds the North American Franchise rights to a VOIP handset. She made the move because of its potential to revolutionize long-distance communication worldwide at reduced costs.

Chow also is a champion of the Asian-American community in OC. She sits on the board of the Vietnam Library working toward a cultural center in Garden Grove and helps the An Thien Foundation raise money for orphans and the needy in Southeast Asia. She also sponsored a book that documented the plight of 2,000 Vietnamese still in the Philippines.

K-Comm Inc., San Clemente

Sinan Kanatsiz, Chairman and CEO

Kanatsiz learned early to apply lessons from work and school to start his own businesses. When Kanatsiz Communications was launched, it' focused on Web development and Internet marketing. That quickly evolved into a fullservice public relations and marketing agency known for Internet expertise. KCOMM now has three additional offices and has conducted campaigns for more than 400 companies. KCOMM counts between $10 million and $15 million in annual revenue. Another venture, Newsblaster.com, modernized public relations and was sold to a subsidiary of Mitsubishi in 2001.

Kanatsiz won two awards from the OC chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and was the alumnus of the year at Chapman University in 2000. Kanatsiz mentors high school and college students, speaks on Internet marketing topics and is a founder of So-Cal Leaders, a non-profit that brings together young entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.

Knowlwood Enterprises Inc., Fountain Valley

Thanh Due Nguyen, Ph.D., President and CEO

Knowlwood is a casual restaurant chain with five locations in Orange County and 100 employees. Nguyen acquired it out of bankruptcy in 1998. By 2002, the company received the SBA Success Story award and an Outstanding Service award from the U.S. Business Administration.

Nguyen came to be U.S. on a scholarship in 1971 and later founded nonprofit Family Farm Development Network in Arkansas, which earned kudos from then-governor Bill Clinton. In 1990, Nguyen moved to California and was director for the Center for Socioeconomic Development at the School of Extended Education at Cal State Fullerton. He also owns NDT Inc., parent company of Knowlwood, and T&G Development, a real estate company in Fountain Valley.

Nguyen supports civic, school and scouting organizations, among others and firmly embraces the belief that hard work and honesty truly make the U.S. the land of equal opportunity.

L&C Development LLC, Corona

Cherie Fishburne, CEO

L&C was formed in 2004 after partners Fishburne and Larry Russell had spent several years in the homebuilding business. Together, the pair has more than 30 years of experience in the industry.

In two years, they have built and sold two homes in Arizona and have purchased another eight-acre parcel for custom homes.

Fishburne spent many years working for builders, but her first construction venture was her own home in Corona, where she razed an existing home and built a new 5,600-square-foot home while handling all the permitting and subcontracting along the way. She is now studying to get a contractor's license. The partners hope to continue this endeavor to build homes people can enjoy for generations to come.

LaFlam Law LLP/CMM Advisory Group Inc., Newport Beach

Bethany L. LaFlam, Founder/Co-Founder

LaFlam specializes in risk analysis and avoidance in the business protection sector. She established LaFlam Law in 2002 to focus on small and medium-sized businesses. She also is cofounder of the CMM Advisory Group, a business advisory group focused on strategic growth in mid-size companies.

CMM allowed LaFlam Law to expand its roster of services to include M&A, human resources and other business services. The law firm represents companies in corporate transactions, business litigation, succession, estate and tax issue and other aspects of business law. Through CMM, LaFlam Law also has developed educational programs and products to better serve businesses, executives and owners.

She is a member of the Orange County, Barr Association's Business and Corporate Law Section, the American Inns of Court and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and is a licensed real estate broker.

Lindora Medical Clinics, Costa Mesa

Cynthia Stamper-Graff, President & CEO

Stamper-Graff's father started Lindora Medical Clinics in 1971, but since she has assumed the reins, the company has expanded and modified its products to meet current consumer needs.

A real estate professional by training who also holds a law degree, Graff now operates 32 medical clinics throughout Southern California that serve more than 3,000 patients each day. She has been instrumental in developing online and telephone programs for those who don't have easy access to a clinic and has authored two books on weight management and wellness. She is working on a third book, Living Lean for Life.

In 1994, Lindora established the Lean for Life Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes obesity research and educational programs and funds weight control services to low-income people who suffer from obesity. Last year, she received a Women in Business Award from the Orange County Business Journal.

LKM Consulting, Aliso Viejo

Laura Miller, Founder & President

Miller started her company in 2003 after working with human resources issues at a manufacturing company for almost a decade. She realized that small businesses needed help controlling workers' compensation costs and knew her experience could benefit them.

Since then, she has helped small regional businesses save more than $.5 million in workers' compensation costs. She also provides service in developing adequate human resources policies and procedures that meet California and federal labor laws, strategic planning and developing safety programs that will help keep workers' compensation costs down.

Miller is president of the board of the Friends of READ Orange County to support adult literacy and is on the mentoring committee of NAWBO Orange County. She was a 2005 recipient of the Orange County Board of Supervisors' Volunteer Recognition Award.

LogicalApps Inc., Irvine

Chris Capdevila, Co-Founder and CEO

LogicalApps was founded in 2000 to provide increased integrity, productivity and efficiency to customers running Oracle applications. The success of its Oracle-based products enabled the company to grow by more than 100% each year since. It also earned kudos from Deloitte Technology's Fast 50 and Software Magazine's Software 500.

Most recently, the company launched ACTIVE Governance, a software application that provides reporting and controls to enforce Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulatory mandates. Last fall, the company secured $14 million in growth capital to expand its embedded governance products to other applications.

The company has more than 100 employees and 150 customers that include the FAA, Agilent Technologies and Cisco Systems. LogicalApps programs help reduce compliance costs, increase efficiency in business operations and minimize risk resulting from errors, misuse and fraud within enterprise applications.

Madeline Zuckerman Public Relations & Marketing Inc., Newport Beach

Madeline Zuckerman, President

Zuckerman established her firm in 1978 and opened a branch office in Palm Springs in 1999. She learned her public relations skills on Madison Avenue in New York from Letitia Baldridge, a former Chief of Staff to the Kennedy White House. She has represented national clients such as Tiffany & Co., Jaguar, South Coast Plaza and scores of others.

Zuckerman is known for her skill in partnering her clients with charitable nonprofit organizations. She has authored articles on advertising and public relations for the American Institute of Architects Newsletter and lectured on the topic to professional organizations and at area colleges. She sits on the board of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors' Authority, the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center and Palm Springs Desert Museum.

Marina Medical Billing Services Inc., Cerritos

Marsha L. Besley, Founder and President

When Marsha Besley tried to help her physician husband improve the billing system at the emergency facility he managed, she never expected to become one of the largest medical billing companies in the country.

Started in their Huntington Beach living room in 1981-before computers were a staple in every business-the company has grown to employ 376 people serving 80 clients in six states from its Cerritos offices. The services enable hospital facilities to pay doctors promptly, thus attracting quality staff members and delivering improved patient care.

The primary focus of the company is to ensure that doctors are paid promptly by providing acqurate and timely billing services. Many clients from the 1980s are still with the company today, even though other firms are sending this type of work overseas.

Masimo Corp., Irvine

Joe E. Kiani, Founder, Chairman and CEO

Kiani has held the key executive positions in this medical technology company since its inception in 1989. His goal for the company was to improve patient care and reduce cost of care by improving noninvasive monitoring. Under his leadership, the company has developed breakthroughs in noninvasive measurement. The company now employs more than 900 people worldwide and licensing and distribution agreements span the globe with major medical clients.

In the last five years, sales have grown to more than $100 million.

Last year, the company introduced another breakthrough with a noninvasive carbon monoxide monitor.

Kiani has more than 50 patents and the company's products have received numerous awards from American Electronics Association, Medical Design and consulting company Frost & Sullivan. On a personal level, Kiani was the first recipient of the Society of Critical Care Medicine Technology Excellence Ward and has received numerous other professional kudos.

Metro Digital Printing, Santa Ana

Mike Jafari, Founder & CEO

Sherri Jafari, CFO

Established in 1986, the Santa Ana company has always prized itself on being ahead of new trends in printing. In the 1980s, it was an early adopter of black and white digital printing; later that grew to include print-on-demand materials. By 1990, the company was completely digital, including a color printing system. In 2002, the company installed a fully variable data press and within a year 70% or customers were ordering variable data based on high response rates to such materials.

Metro Digital also is committed to saving clients time and money. Its state-of-the-art equipment has reduced the time to product 100 60-page booklets by 75%. That also led to a 25% increase in sales.

The company serves entertainment, automotive, healthcare and computer industries with a staff of 35 and continually demonstrates the quality of digital color printing.

MUrgent Corp., Santa Ana

Boris Bugarski, CEO and President

Bugarski typifies the new entrepreneur who is leveraging e-technology to create new business models. At 31, he already has a decade of experience integrating offline and online marketing strategies, built two start-up companies and expanded to Europe, the Near East and Australia/East Asia.

The company's product, Empact, sells software services over the Internet that delivers targeted messages to clients' own customers, thereby erasing the 'spam' image so prevalent with online marketing today. The company has more than 300 corporate clients and Ingram Micro distributes its product.

Bugarski speaks to professional organizations and at various college programs. Last year, he was chosen president of the executive council for the College of Business and Economics at Cal State Fullerton, the youngest president in its 30 years. He also is director of the Society of Internet Advancement, orange County Chapter.

Mustard Cafe/Mustard Franchise Corp., Irvine

Alireza Alavian, Founder and CEO

By the time Alavian opened his first Mustard Caf, he already had created and sold three businesses, but had always wanted to open a deli restaurant. The goal was to provide high-end sandwiches at an affordable price.

He won the last open spot in an Irvine Co. food court at Oak Creek and debuted a second location at Newport Coast in 2004. A third location at Orange Plaza was set to open this month. All stores offer a catering menu for parties or business events.

Now all the cafes are operated under franchise agreements while Alavian works to expand the concept on a corporate level. He expects to have 12 stores by the end of 2007-just five years after launching the restaurant.

NetScope Inc., Irvine

Michael Beresford, President

Beresford was on the leading edge of Web development companies in Orange County, launching NetScope in 1995. Since then, the company has grown to 15 associates and expanded its facilities three times to accommodate its growth. While not a large company, it has continued to grow by double digits each year.

He has developed interactive marketing portals for such clients as United Way Orange County, The Irvine Co., Irvine Chamber of Commerce and many homebuilders. He has remained ahead of the curve in Web development, being among the first to include graphic applications, integration with back-end databases and search engine optimization. And he fosters development and growth for employees as well.

Beresford gives of his time to the community, supporting groups like Laguna Relief and the Orange County United Way.

Newport Flavours & Fragrances, Orange

William Sabo, Founder

Since 1983, Newport Flavours & Fragrances has manufactured flavors and fragrances for the food and beverage industry, offering services ranging from the concept to the bottle. The company creates formulas by combining nutraceuticals with food and beverages. It also is a co-packer of teas and coffees, a sector it entered after acquiring Seelect Teas in 2000.

Formulas include dairy, beverage, bakery, confectionery and juice blends. The company also produces fragrance formulations for personal care products and home care products for retail, institutional, bulk, private label and export products.

In 2005, the global flavor and fragrance market was estimated at $4.8 billion, according to global consultants Frost & Sullivan, London. By 2012, that market is expected to grow to $6.2 billion.

Newport Flavours employs 30, including chemists and food technologists and emphasizes a tradition of quality and excellence exemplified by constantly striving to stay ahead of market trends.

Next Level Fitness and Wellness Center, Irvine

Sieve Hochman, President & Owner

Hochman, a nationally certified physical trainer with the International Sports Science Association, started Next Level in 2001 after working in a small gym as a personal trainer. There he developed a small group of people who worked under his supervision. But the group soon outgrew the facility and Next Level was born. Within two years, it had doubled in size to the 5,000-square-foot center he has today.

Hochman a one-time All-American athlete, offers services that range from exercise and fitness to nutrition training, Pilates, yoga, skin care and chiropractic services.

He donates personal fitness training to youth hockey players at the Gretzky Center in Irvine and has donated time and expertise to co-create Next Level Survivor, a DVD program that addresses fitness needs of post-surgical breast cancer patients and survivors.

Hochman has 25 high-level trainers who treat every client as someone special.

OCFundraising.com, Brea

Jason Smith, Founder

Smith got an early start in the entrepreneurial world-while he was still in high school. The son of retired teachers, he saw a need for schools and other nonprofits to garner a bigger share from fundraising programs. OC Fundraising, launched in 2000, is now known as the fundraising superstore, offers low prices, free shipping, high profit margins for organizations and small minimum order requirementsall features that help those in need earn more money. His goal is to make a difference for schools nationwide.

One of his first products was the YoYo Balloon, which now has sold more than 1 million pieces. Today, OC Fundraising distributes hundreds of products and programs and has been featured in newspapers across the country.

A sole proprietor, Smith operates the business under Blue Coast Group Inc.

Ocean Magazine, Corona del Mar

Molly Chizzick, Editor- in-Chief

Ocean Magazine debuted in December, striving to be OC's premier women's publication targeted to women 18 to 49. That's a demographic that Chizzick and partner Amy Kearney, advertising director, believe has not been tapped.

The magazine strives to provide up-to-date information on health, beauty, fashion, lifestyle trends and travel for women in OC's coastal communities. It also will touch on interior design, career tips and women's issues.

More than 25,000 magazines will be directmailed quarterly to women within the target group along the coast. Ocean will implement a multichannel distribution to maximize the magazine's audience, combining direct mail and paid subscriptions with single-copy sales and a controlled commercial distribution. It already is available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Tower Records and Walden Books in OC and the publication had 200 paid subscriptions in hand before the first issue went out.

Orange County High School of the Arts, Santa Ana

Ralph Opacic, Executive Director & President

Since 1987, Opacic has worked to bring his dream of a professional, tuitionfree arts school to Southern California teens. When it opened, it offered after-school programs to 125 students on an operating budget of $190,000. Today, it has its own campus in Santa Ana for 1,300 students from 92 cities. It offers 11 programs and has an $11 million operating budget, much of which is state-funded. About $3 million comes from private donors.

In 1998, Opacic created the OCHSA Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, to work toward funding and other long-range goals. In 2000, he created one of the first public charter schools in California and converted abandoned commercial space into an education facility. The school has won several state and national awards and was a 2006 Grammy Signature School finalist. The school is producing world-class artists and scholars and companies like Walt Disney turn to the school for new talent.

ORYXE Energy International Inc., Irvine

Walter L. Schindler, Chairman and CEO

Schindler is a former managing partner of law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a former executive of Ultrasystems-a renewable energy company that developed some of the first alternative energy projects in the U.S.

Now he leads Oryxe Energy International, a company in which his Odyssey Venture Partners (started by Schindler and two others) has significant investment. Oryxe, started in 2001, offers a range of fuel additives that reduce toxic pollution and increase fuel efficiency. The goal is to be the leading global innovator of cost-effective, additive technologies that reduce harmful pollutants and enhance the combustion performance of fossil fuels. Its products are proven, safe and costeffective.

In 2004, ORYXE Energy began marketing its first fully developed product, OR-LED, after the additive was approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)

Schindler is a co-founding director of the Southern California Entrepreneurship Academy.

Pacific Coast Reprographics, Irvine

Zack Dafaallah, President

Dafaallah turned his knowledge of the blueprint industry into a reprographics company that was among the first to move blueprint service into the digital era. The Sudanese native opened the business in 1998. Within a year, they acquired two other businesses and opened a second location at the Irvine Spectrum that includes a computer lab and equipment that enables them to produce oversized outdoor graphics.

PCR founded NOARC, the Network of Affiliated Reprographic Companies, and The NEXTeSTEP, a state-of-the-art training center, to help small reprographic companies flourish independently and take advantage of new technology-including the Internet revolution.

Pacific Westline Inc., Anaheim

Daniel MacLeith, Founder

MacLeith was introduced to woodworking while in high school and has never looked back. He launched the forerunner of Pacific Westline in 1975, building cabinets and kitchens. When he saw the food industry beginning to grow, he changed the name to Pacific Westline and moved into building restaurant interiors. He serves clients like Mimi's Caf, the Cheeesecake Factory and Souplantation.

In October, Pacific Westline will turn 32. It has nine buildings and 64,000 square feet of manufacturing, millwork, metal products and other fabrication facilities on one campus. Many employees have been with him for more than 20 years because he empowers them to succeed.

MacLeith also owns a film production company, is a mentor at CaI State Fullerton and is the Voice' of Argonaut football and baseball at Garden Grove High School. He has appeared in various films and on TV, including episodes of "Home Improvement."

Perfume Bay, Huntington Beach

Jacquelyn Tran, President & CEO

Tran followed in the family business when, in 1999, she took perfume to the Internet. The family, which emigrated from Vietnam in the 1980s, had operated retail stores in L.A., but Tran wanted to take the idea to the next level. She shifted the focus to wholesale and created an online Web site. Today, it offers more than 700 unique brands and is one of the most recognized online beauty Web sites.

Perfume Bay and her other beauty Web sites now generate roughly $12 million annually. Last year, BizRate named it a Gold Honoree for Excellence in Service. She has partnered with Google and Yahoo! and the site is highly rated by consumer advocate Web sites for its reliability, customer service and product selection.

Professional Woman's Magazine (Olive Tree Publishing), San Clemente

Mona Lisa Paris, Founder and President (Vice President)

Paris and her sister launched Olive Tree in 1991 to specialize in minority employment recruitment magazines. More recently, she has partnered with outlets like Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton and Borders Books to sell the magazines. In addition, the company now partners with more than 52 employment and business conferences annually.

To address the needs of the disabled in the workplace, Professional Woman's Magazine has added a Disability Focus and a list of the top business people with disabilities. That helped place the publication with disability conferences across the country.

Other publications include the Black EOE Journal and Hispanic Network Magazine, which strive to provide supplier diversity in Orange County. Subscription renewal rates hover at 97%.

Faris contributes to the Mission Viejo Hospital Latino Leadership Council and also is active in her husband's business, California Tax Data. Paris last year was named Champion of the Year by NAWBO.

Proforma Graphic PrintSource, Brea

Linda Martinelli, President

Martinelli launched Proforma Graphic PrintSource in 1998 to help clients with customized printing, promotional products and e-solutions that meet the needs of today's businesses. She now has a staff of seven and counts clients like Kia Motors, Yamaha, Suzuki, Herbalife and Von's.

In the past year, she has helped clients design targeted marketing campaigns and created complete event campaigns. She also added four to her staff in 2005. The movers helped her earn a North American Major Accounts Innovation Award from the parent company, Proforma. The award was for her work with Yamaha for an online e-commerce program for a national print and label program.

This month, she received the International Franchise Association Franchisee of the Year award. She was the first female development coach for the company and is the first individual female Owners Advisory Council President for Proforma.

Q Staffing Services, Irvine

Robert Gaynor, Founder and CEO

Gaynor came from a background in the placement industry. His parents ran a domestic placement service and he was in charge of operations for the company by age 19.

Then he moved into the staffing sector, working for several large firms along the way.

In 2001, he decided to form Q Staffing Services. In five years, it has grown to eight offices in four states and last year ranked No. 49 on Entrepreneur Magazine's hot 100 for fastest-growing new businesses.

Last year, Gaynor launched a marketing campaign featuring the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." The promotion garnered the company several communications awards, illustrating the company's goal of staying at the forefront of workforce trends.

R.D. Olson Construction and R.O. Olson Development, Irvine

Robert D. Olson, CEO and President

Olson started his construction company at the age of 23, doing home additions while working for a contractor by day. In the first year, he generated $80,000 in revenue. By 1983, that had grown to $2 million.

Today, annual revenue tops $130 million and the company ranks among the Top 400 U.S. Construction Firms, according to Engineering News Record. Through the years, Olson has been a master of reinvention as the construction industry faced recession and interest rate variations. In 1997, he created a separate development company to cater to the growing hotel market. Now that company has more than $200 million in hotel developments in the pipeline.

After the turndown in 2001, he moved into the mixed-use and multi-family housing markets, including a 290-unit development at Jamboree and Main and a 525-bed student housing facility in Riverside. The company employs more than 200 people.

Real Estate Partners Inc., Irvine

Dawson Davenport, CEO

Davenport's single goal of becoming a leader in the national real estate investment market is become reality. Launched in 2000, REP specializes in the acquisition, repositioning, management and disposition of high-growth properties. The company has proprietary technology called iBroker whose applications allow the company to deliver a variety of services quickly and operate nationwide easily. The company acquired $70 million in assets in 2005 and owns and manages more than $500 million in real estate assets, including approximately 5,500 multifamily units and 500,000 square feet of commercial property.

In 2005, the company launched Real Estate Partners Asset Management Services, in part to leverage the lucrative 1031 exchange market. The company contributed to the launch of 1031NetEx.com to meet the challenges of this market. In addition, REP Commercial Inc is a fullservice brokerage firm.

Retention Education LLC, Newport Beach

Bill Groux, Founder and CEO

Retention Education is a workforce education company that addresses the workplace needs of employees with limited English skills. It aims to become the market leader of innovative educational products for companies that employ Hispanic workers and improve their education at the same time. Its flagship product, called Sed de Saber, teaches Spanish-speaking adults how to succeed at work and in the community in English. It is offered by employers as a benefit and is used by more than 200 restaurant and hotel companies, with new demand coming from other industries. The company is now developing a program for employees wanting to learn Spanish.

The program has been featured in national print and broadcast media.

Groux's goal is to help improve business performance and increase employee retention through these programs. He also is involved in poverty programs throughout the U.S. and in Africa.

Roadside Telematics Corp., Newport Beach

Lawrence E. Williams, Founder

Williams founded this roadside medical messaging company in 1999 in order to improve the ability of roadside call center operators to transmit medical information about auto accident victims to first responders.

Williams calls the system an "electronic medical bracelet for your car."

Its proprietary Road Medic system shaves minutes off the time required to provide service. If won the 2004 Telematics in Action award in 2004 for its use by Ford Motor Company and the Texas 911 Emergency Network. It is working with automakers to incorporate the technology in future models of the vehicles, with the first of those introduced in 2005.

Williams previously spent 20 years in the automotive industry with Ford Motor Co. and Jaguar of North America.

Williams supports the Orange County Museum of Art, the Orange County Performing Arts Center and a counseling center for OC teens.

Roddel & Associates/Roddel Mortgage, Tustin

Tom Roddel, Founder

Roddel, a 20-year industry veteran, has 7,000 home closings to his credit and has done marketing for more than 100 new home projects, working for large companies like Pulte Home Corp. before launching his own business in 1994. Roddel & Associates has branch offices in Corona and Palm Desert and serves the entire Southern California region.

Since 1994, the company has closed on more than 6,500 homes worth $1.5 billion in new home sales. In 2005, the company closed on 1,114 new homes, totaling $335 million, a 47% growth over the prior year.

In 2002, Roddel decided to diversify by offering mortgage services to home-buying clients in partnership with Wells Fargo Bank. This allows Roddel & Associates to offer a variety of loan products for buyers that is equal to programs from other mortgage brokerages.

Saunders Properties Co., Newport Beach

John Saunders, President

In the past 17 years, Saunders has become one of OC's largest commercial real estate owners, counting more than 4 million square feet in his portfolio. Known better for his coin dealership, London Coin Galleries, this year he made a splash locally when he and other investors bought two 10-story buildings in Newport Beach from KBS Realty Advisors for $136 million through a pool of investors under the umbrella of Core Realty Holdings. The group acquires and manages commercial properties and provides replacement properties for the 1031 exchange investors.

Saunders' company specializes in retail, office, industrial and multi-family properties in the West and Midwest with a minimum value of $10 million.

Saunders is a member of the Orange County Lincoln Club and NAIOP. His philanthropic ventures include supporting the Boy Scouts, Walking in His Shoes, Queen of Hearts Foundation, Red Cross and Goodwill.

(The) Saywitz Co., Newport Beach

Barry Saywitz, President

The Saywitz Co. is one of the largest privately held commercial real estate brokerage firms in Southern California. An outgrowth of the Howard G. Ecker Co., it has operated in Orange County since 1994 under the Saywitz name.

After Barry Saywitz purchased the West Coast operations, his brother Jeff and father Michael joined the firm to help expand the business. It has since been recognized as one of the top commercial real estate brokers firms in the country by Real Estate Forum Magazine and National Real Estate Investor Magazine for the past several years. Barry Saywitz has been named one of the top commercial real estate brokers in Southern California by Real Estate Southern California magazine for the past three years.

In 1995, the company began to acquire multifamily apartments and office buildings, a division that has grown to more than $100 million in holdings in OC.

SiliconSystems Inc., Aliso Viejo

Michael Hajeck, Chairman of the Board and CEO

SiliconSystems, a three-year-old company, designs, manufactures and markets standard and application-specific solid-state storage systems developed for the enterprise system OEM market. It has been successful in obtaining venture capital funding, partly on the strength of its cross-licensing agreement with SanDisk and blue-chip customer base that includes Abbott Labs, L3 Communications and Lucent Technologies.

In the past year, the company expanded its sales force by 15 and signed on with eight influential distributors in Europe. A new technology, SISMART, accurately measures solid state drive usage and predicts useable life.

SiliconSystems was the first to engineer products and technologies that incorporate proprietary and application-specific technologies to ensure data integrity and storage system availability. As the only company engaged exclusively in engineering industrial-grade solid-state storage solutions, SiliconSystems offers industry-leading 6-bit ECC and patented technology that virtually eliminates data corruption during power disturbances.

Smartlabs Inc., Irvine

Joe Dada, Founder, President & CEO

Formerly known as Smarthome, this electronic home improvement product company now distributes more than 7,000 products and has sold more than 3 million products since its launch in 1992. In addition, the company has grown from 12 employees to 90.

Today there are three divisions: Smarthome.com, known as the Amazon.com of electronic home improvement; Smarthome Design, which focuses on home automation; and Smarthome Technology, dedicated to home automation control.

Smarthome was the first electronic home improvement company on the Internet and the first to create a B2B division, SmarthomePro. The company produces in excess of 4 million catalogs per year and serves customers in 160 countries.

Dada, a member of the Young Presidents' Organization, has spoken at numerous conferences, including the Consumer Electronics Show-the largest of its kind-in Las Vegas, the National Hardware Show and Electric West, among others.

Smiles By Davis, Newport Beach

Nicholas Davis, DDS, Owner

Davis has been a pioneer in cosmetic dentistry for 30 years and is one of only two dentists in Orange County who is accredited in the field of cosmetic dentistry by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD).

His practice goes far beyond traditional dentistry, sometimes involving plastic surgeons, periodontists, orthodontists and oral surgeons to achieve optimum results. Services include cosmetic lightening, gum line reconstruction, porcelain veneers and smile makeovers.

As president of AACD, Davis leads a group of more than 7,000 members in 50 countries working to advance cosmetic dentistry. He lectures nationally and internationally at dental conventions and universities and has been published in numerous medical journals. He also is an adjunct professor at Loma Linda University.

Davis promoted AACD's charitable foundation, Give Back A Smile Program, which gives free dentistry to survivors of domestic violence.

SouthStar Funding, Irvine

Kirk Smith, President

Since SouthStar was established in 1998, Smith and his partners have grown it from 20 employees to more than 800 in 30 states. SouthStar focuses on nonprime lending and has expanded its product line in order to generate more volume. The company has operation centers in Irvine, Atlanta, Denver and Orlando and will open another in Ohio this summer.

SouthStar relies heavily on technology that makes it easier for brokers and loan officers to obtain information. Last year, even as other mortgage companies announced layoffs, SouthStar grew its staff numbers by 18%.

The company also operates an internal training program aimed at introducing new employees to the lender's service-focused culture. It includes sales training and job-specific sessions.

To encourage employees to get involved in the nonprofit sector, SouthStar gives each employee one paid day off per year for volunteer efforts.

Sparks Realty & Investments Inc., Irvine

Dave Sparks, President

Since 1987, Sparks has sold more than $100 million in homes in Orange County, San Diego and Long Beach. He has been a top producer since 1989. Part of his success can be attributed to his philosophy of creating a win-win deal for all parties. The OC native is known for going the extra mile and paying exceptional attention to every detail in the transactions he handles.

Sparks is a member of the OC Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors and commissioner of finance for the city of Irvine.

He is active in his church, the Boy Scouts of America, the Blind Children's Learning Center, Children's Home Society and Christmas in April community. He also works with various youth groups.

Spinnaker Network Solutions Inc., Irvine

Mitchell Cannady, President & CEO

Since 1997, Spinnaker has focused on software customization by identifying, designing and implementing sales effectiveness software solutions. It has been the Sage Software West Coast Partner of the Year for three years and is considered an authority on customer relationship management trends by technology media. The evolution of CRM technology keeps Spinnaker on the cutting edge and its detailed and targeted training programs enable users to embrace new systems.

Its systems help sales people access the collective knowledge about a product or customer from every department to enable them to work with clients to meet future needs. Its systems help reduce costs, increase productivity, formalize procedures and improve security of client data.

Spinnaker partners with a host of CRM technology specialists like Microsoft CRM, Q-Gate, NetSuite Inc. and StreetSmarts.

Stearns Companies, Santa Ana

Glenn Steams, Chairman and Founder

Stearns has a portfolio of more than 20 Companies in the real estate, entertainment, contract services and business management industries that were brought under one umbrella during a rebranding effort spurred by Stearns' successful win on reality program "The Real Gilligan's Island."

Stearns, named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 2002, was once a poor student from the Maryland projects, but turned things around after coming to Orange County. He founded his own mortgage company after working for 10 months as a loan officer, and today his companies have an aggregate value of more than $100 million in assets.

He has established the Stearns Family Charitable Foundation dedicated to helping disadvantaged youth reach their potential. Stearns and wife Mindy donated the $250,000 prize from the reality show to the foundation and matched it with their own funds. He serves on the board of Canyon Acres and generously contributes to its services to abused children, as well as supporting a number of other Orange County organizations.

STOP-GAP, Costa Mesa

Don Laffoon, Founder and Executive Director

Laffoon is an internationally recognized theater director who also helped launch the National Children's Theatre of Iran. In 1978, he created STOP-GAP, now one of the largest nonprofit theaters dedicated to education. Stop-Gap provides 1,000 plays and 500 drama therapy workshops in Southern California.

He also is a pioneer in the use of therapeutic theater and is past president of the National Coalition of Arts Therapies Associations and National Association of Drama Therapy. Laffoon has received numerous awards for his work, including United Way's Alexis de Toqueville Award and the Founders Award from national Philanthropy Day. Other awards include Disneyland's Community Serviced Award (numerous years), and those from Arts Orange County, Human Options, the Orange County Business Committee for the Arts, the Pacific Life Foundation and the Register Charities Award.

Sudden Impact Inc., Dove Canyon

Merlin Corbin, Co-founder

Corbin, a Dove Canyon resident, launched this energy drink company in 2002 with fellow BYU grad and ex-NFL quarterback Steve Young. The goal of the company is to find the healthiest ways to deliver energy without using stimulants.

One of the products known as Young Energy, uses a patented process that creates clustered water to increase hydration. It also includes herbs and vitamin B12 to produce a natural high without caffeine. The company also produces Jugular-targeted to young children-and YET, targeted to women.

So far, regional test markets have produced sales approaching 1 million units and revenue of right around $1 million as of 2005. Wal-Mart is running an in-store test of the products. A portion of all sales of Young Energy will go to the Forever Young Foundation that Young started in 1993 to provide money to children's charities.

Sunstone Hotel Investors, San Clemente

Robert Alter, Chairman, CEO, President

Sunstone has become a prime player in the hotel REIT industry and Alter has been at the forefront of its growth. He established Sunstone in 1985 and went public in 1995. By 1999, the company had a market cap of about $1 billion. Changes in the market led him to take the company private that year. In 2004, Alter led Sunstone through its second IPO-the largest hotel IPO totaling roughly $415 million. It has become one of the strongest lodging REIT companies with a 2005 investment return of 34.2%.

Last year, Sunstone acquired $1 billion in hotel assets, including the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza and Fairmont Newport Beach (formerly Sutton Place). In January it agreed to buy the Hilton Times Square in New York City.

The moves have raised shareholder value, as has the company's commitment to exceed required financial disclosures.

Tailored Basket, Santa Ana

Linda Young, Founder & President

Young started out designing custom baskets from home in 1996. By 2000, the company had grown and she quit her 'day job' to devote all her efforts to the business she loves. Since then she has created more than 5,000 basket designs and produced more than 80,000 gift baskets. The company mantra is simple: make gift baskets convenient, cost-effective and simple to create for clients. Wells Fargo, Coldwell Banker, Toastmasters and OC resorts like Montage, St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton and Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach have used her products.

Young donates baskets to charity events and fundraisers throughout the year. She is active in the Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce and the Asian Business Association of Los Angeles and Orange County. She was named 2004 Business Person of the Year by the Orange County President's Council and 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Asian Business Association.

TEI Entertainment, Anaheim

John McEntee, President

McEntee was looking for extra cash in college when he charged students $3 each to hear local musicians play. Today he's a well-known provider of celebrity entertainment for private and corporate clients and generates roughly $30 million each year.

After college, McEntee moved to booking local entertainment at restaurants, fairs and festivals. He also became the booking agent for several groups. That led to booking shows for performing arts centers. As corporate America began to use celebrity appearances at meetings and entertainment functions, he expanded his reach to that market. The thirst for corporate sponsorships led him to add a marketing arm to the company, handling personal appearances for clients worldwide.

McEntee and his wife make Halloween costumes for the region's homeless shelters each year and donate celebrity entertainment to Summer Fest in support of philanthropic organizations. He also serves on the Special Olympics of Orange County advisory council.

Trade American Card, Orange

Michael Ames, President

Ames and his family have worked for 35 years to create one of the leading barter exchange companies in the country. Launched in 1970, Trade American Card has 25 employees and was instrumental in creating the National Association of Trade Exchanges as well as a state organization. TAC led the way in establishing the direction of this industry through the years. Family members have learned the business from the ground up and their combined efforts foster growth and stability for the company. Through the efforts of Ames and other family members, TAC has weathered many economic storms, demonstrating the best traits of entrepreneurs through their ability to adapt to changing markets, attract new business in unfavorable times and survive through downturns over three decades.

A third generation of family members is beginning to work in the business-another testament to its strength and longevity.

TransGlobal Solutions LLC, Norwalk

Shawn Kohler, President

While still in his 20s, Kohler took what he learned from several years in the staffing industry and combined it with a partner's knowledge of the trucking industry to form TransGlobal in 2000. The company provides long-term and short-term Class A, B and C drivers to business, including Simmons Mattress and Carl's Jr. Within one year, they had 20 drivers, two employees and better than $400,000 in sales. The next year, the company opened an office in Ontario and grew its gross revenue to almost $3 million. By 2004, that had grown to $7.4 million. Even after a split with his former partner, Kohler's 2005 revenue exceeded $5 million.

Kohler relies on a commitment to excellence and high level of customer service to grow the company. He also generates loyalty from employees by treating them with fairness and respect. This year, he plans to open offices in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

UCI Paul Merage School of Business, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Irvine

Shaheen Husain, Founding Director

Husain is known as the driving force behind the Center, which provides education, leadership, resources and potential partnerships to its participants. She ensures the Center fosters a connection among university researchers, venture capitalists and business leaders. Programs include a business plan competition that gives the top five winners entree to the Tech Coast Angels seed-financing invitational; entrepreneurial skills workshops, consulting, a life science start-up initiative and venture capital investment competition.

Husain sits on the executive committee for the Orange County Forum's Executive Leadership series and is an advisory board member tor the UCI Center for Women and Men and the Women in Business organization at the Paul Merage School. The native of Sudan is listed in Who's Who of American Women and has received several awards for her work.

(Offices of) Val Lambros, Newport Beach

Dr. Val Lambros, Owner

Dr. Lambros is a pioneer in plastic surgery and has practiced for more than 30 years. He practices his craft with the same artistry he relies on as a fine art photographer. Procedures he offers include facelifts, fat injections/sculpting, chin implants, breast augmentation and liposculpture. The board-certified physician approaches every case as unique and uses a photographic technique to study the effects of age to determine what approach best suits each patient's needs.

This unique approach is gaining attention within the plastic surgery profession. It also has led to another pioneer approach that combines facelift techniques with other modalities that fill voids in the skin's natural layers to produce a more natural result.

He is a frequent lecturer and author and has presented his breakthrough developments to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Lambros is affiliated with Hoag Hospital and is an active member of half a dozen professional organizations.

Vitamin A Inc., Laguna Beach

Amahlia Stevens, Founder and Designer

This swimwear designer and wholesaler is sometimes called OC's best-kept secret, though celebrities like Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Anniston wear the brand. Stevens' design combines sophistication with a SoCal look and a unique construction that has four-way stretch and is guaranteed not to slip. The bikinis are handcrafted from Italian tricot to create a perfectly cut luxury bikini. Tops and bottoms are sold as mix-and-match separates-a unique approach in itself.

Her first designs were launched in 1997. Today, the products are available at several OC coastal retail outlets and the company has been featured in Sports Illustrated, Sports Fitness, Apparel News, Elle, Vogue and other mainstream designer publications. Vitamin A employs six people.

Walkstyles Inc., Laguna Hills

Sue Parks, Co-Founder

Dennis Parks, Co-Founder

This couple has blended their corporate talents from the technology and consumer lifestyle industries to create their first entrepreneurial venture. Their own love of walking led to Walkstyles Inc., which is focused on being the go-to company for products and services sought for any aspect of an active, walking lifestyle. The key product is the DashTrak, introduced last year. This is a multi-function health monitor that allows the user to track a variety of data and upload it to a subscription Web site for future charting.

The company also has designed and produced a line of women's active clothing sold in most Nordstrom stores and high-end spas and resorts. Since DashTrak was launched six months ago, Walkstyles generated more than $400,000 revenue for 2005.

The couple supports United Way, the American Heart Association and the Ocean Institute; Sue also is a founding member of the OC Women's Philanthropy fund.

Wildermuth Environmental, Lake Forest

Mark Wildermuth, President & CEO

Wildermuth, a water resources industry veteran, left a large engineering company in 1990 to follow his vision of consulting on water resources. His aim is to be a strategic partner to California cities, government agen