Entrepreneurs Named Finalists in Contest
Eight San Fernando Valley business owners are among 32 regional finalists named Monday in an annual awards competition honoring top entrepreneurs from around the world.
Four of the Valley finalists this year are based in Chatsworth. Calabasas-based Breath Asure Inc. is making its second consecutive appearance as a finalist and is the lone food-products company in a field of mostly high-technology and manufacturing concerns.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. May 24, 1996 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Friday May 24, 1996 Valley Edition Metro Part B Page 3 Zones Desk 2 inches; 68 words Type of Material: Correction
Finalists--In a story May 21, two area businesses were omitted from a list of regional finalists for this year’s International Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. The owners of Valencia-based 3D Systems Corp., a developer and manufacturer of stereo lithography systems, and Santa Clarita-based Taitron Components Inc., a distributor of discrete semiconductors, were among the 32 Los Angeles-area finalists in the contest, sponsored annually by the accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP.
The International Entrepreneur of the Year awards were founded nine years ago by the accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP. Finalists are nominated from 81 regions across the globe and selected based on the profitability and growth rate of their businesses, said Meggan Taylor, Ernst & Young’s program manager for the Los Angeles portion of the contest. “We also look for entrepreneurs who are creating jobs in the community, who are growing and who have a social conscience,” Taylor said.
A panel of independent judges chose the 32 Los Angeles-area finalists from nominees submitted by local business leaders. Of those, about a dozen will be named Greater Los Angeles Area Entrepreneurs of the Year and will represent the region at an international awards conference to be held in Palm Springs in November, Taylor said.
There, a single International Entrepreneur of the Year will be selected.
Among the other Valley companies whose owners or founders were selected as regional finalists are Plasma & Materials Technologies Inc., a Chatsworth semiconductor technology firm; Arc Machines Inc., a Pacoima manufacturer of welding equipment; Xylan Corp., a Calabasas manufacturer of computer networking products; Mini Med Inc., a Sylmar manufacturer of microinfusion pumps; Schaeffer Magnetics Inc., a Chatsworth designer and maker of space-flight motion-control systems; and Hydro-Mill Co., a Chatsworth-based aircraft parts manufacturer.
