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A-20 ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXCELLENCE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD NOMINEES AUGUST 10, 2020

2020 EXCELLENCE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD NOMINEES

Accurate Background Inc.,

IrvineDave Dickerson,President/CEO

Agapay, Tustin

Daniel Han, President

AIVITA Biomedical, Irvine

Hans Keirstead, Ph.D.,CEO

All Green ElectronicsRecycling, Tustin

Arman Sadeghi, CEO

All-AmericanLeadership,

IrvineRob Nielsen, CEO

Allied Universal, Santa Ana

Steve Jones, CEO

Alternative DivorceSolutions Inc., Newport BeachLani Baron,

Founding Partner

Alternative DivorceSolutions Inc., Newport Beach

Jeanann Khalife, Partner

Alteryx, IrvineDean Stoecker,

CEO/Chairman/Co-Founder

American Technologies Inc.,

AnaheimGary Moore, CEO

Architecture DesignCollaborative,Laguna HillsCraig Chinn,

Principal/Founding Partner

Austin Taylor Inc., Irvine

Ron Viggiano, President

Avatar Partners Inc.,Huntington Beach

Marlo Brooke,CEO/Founder

Beacon Pointe Advisors,Newport Beach

Shannon Eusey, CEO

Beeya, Laguna BeachLadan Davia,CEO/Founder

Bioniz Therapeutics Inc.,Irvine

Nazli Azimi,Founder/President/CEO

Branch Startup Studio,Irvine

Dalip Jaggi, Principal

Branded Group, Anaheim

Michael Kurland, CEO

CAIN Group Pacific Sotheby’s

International Realty, Newport Beach

John Cain,Founder/Principal

Channel Bakers,Anaheim

Joshua Kreitzer,Founder/CEO

CISOSHARE, San ClementeMike Gentile,President/CEO

CSUF, Fullerton

John Bradley Jackson,Director, Center forEntrepreneurship

Cultivation Kitchen,Anaheim

Dale LaFlam, Owner

David MeltzerEnterprises,

IrvineDavid Meltzer, Founder

Designers ResourceCollection, Costa Mesa

Pamela Kellogg, Principal

Ducere Global Business School, Corona Del MarMathew Jacobson,Founder/CEO

Ephesoft Inc., Irvine

Ike Kavas, CEO/Founder

Finch PC, Costa Mesa

Jonathan Pittard, Co-Founder/ChiefNumber Cruncher

Fusion of Ideas, Lake Forest

Russ Taylor, CEO

Gorilla Stationers LLC,Cypress

Rosemary Czopek,President

Idea Hall, Costa MesaRebecca Hall,President/CEO

INBRACE, Irvine

John Pham, CEO/Co-Founder

JobzMall,Irvine

Nathan Candaner, Co-Founder/CEO

JustFoodForDogs, Los Alamitos

Shawn Buckley, Founder

Kingdom VenturesUnlimited FinancialSolutions Inc.,

IrvineErnesto Diapera, CEO

KPRS ConstructionServices Inc.,

BreaJoel Stensby, President

Leaf CommunicationsConsulting Inc., San Clemente

Dan Leaf, President/CEO

Managed DirectResponse,Irvine

Pat Mercuri, President

Manna Kadar Beauty Inc.,

IrvineManna Kadar,Founder/CEO

Margaux Agency, Long Beach

Monica Garrett,Founder/CEO

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AUGUST 10, 2020 EXCELLENCE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD NOMINEES ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL A-21

Mavenlink,Irvine

Ray Grainger,CEO/Founder

MEESH BoutiqueAdvisors, Dana Point

Michele Noparvar,Owner/Founder

Miracle Mile Advisors,Newport Beach

Nella Webster, ManagingDirector

Modulim, Irvine

David Cuccia,Founder/CTO

Montage International,Irvine

Alan Fuerstman,Founder/Chairman/CEO

Natasha MinasianInterior, The Studio

at DRC, Costa Mesa

Natasha Minasian,Designer/Owner

NetServe Systems Inc.,Laguna Hills

Abdi Ahmed, President

Ocean at Main, Laguna Beach

Craig Strong, Chef/Owner

Old Brea Chop House,Brea

Tony Fasulo,Owner/Operator

Orange Aluminum,Laguna Niguel

Cameron Munson,President

Outshine PublicRelations,

Newport BeachTalia Samuels, President

Pendulum Property Partners,

IrvineKevin Hayes, Managing

Partner

PeopleG2, Brea

Chris Dyer, CEO

Perfect YOUth, Newport Beach

Yeral Patel, CEO/Founder

Pinnacle Petroleum Inc.,

Huntington BeachLiz McKinley,President/CEO

Pinner Construction,Anaheim

Dirk Griffin, CEO

Platinum Wealth Group,Orange

Ken Kladouris,President/Wealth Advisor

PowerhouseCommunications,

Santa AnaKristin Daher,

President/Founder

Profit RecoveryPartners LLC/SteinerInnovations/TwoMasters Win Club,

Costa MesaDonald Steiner, CEO

Restaurant365, Irvine

John Moody, Co-Founder/Chief

Strategist/Board Member.

Revealize, Newport Beach

Cole McKeon, President

Scarlet Kitchen & Lounge,

Rancho Mission ViejoPaige Riordan,Chef/Owner

Seven Gables RealEstate, Tustin

Michael Hickman,President/CEO

SmartBug Media, Irvine

Ryan Malone,Founder/CEO

Spinnaker Investment Group, Newport BeachMorgan Christen,

CEO/Chief InvestmentOfficer

Sterling PublicRelations,

Corona del MarPaula Steurer,

President/Founder

Stretto,Irvine

Jonathan Carson, CEO

Stretto, Irvine

Eric Kurtzman, CEO

Syntiant Corp., Irvine

Kurt Busch, CEO

TAE Technologies,Foothill Ranch

Michl Binderbauer,CEO

Terra Tech Corp., Irvine

Derek Peterson, CEO

The Blind Pig, Rancho SantaMargarita

Tony Monaco, Owner

The Butchery, Costa Mesa

Robert Hagopian, Co-Owner

The Butchery, Costa Mesa

Brian Smith, Co-Owner

The Collective, Costa MesaTony Oliver,Founder/CEO

The Mark USA INC.,Irvine

Traci Shirachi,CEO/President

The Sandwich Society,Tustin

Mi Ho, Owner

The SaywitzCompany,

Newport BeachBarry Saywitz,President

Think Together, Santa AnaRandy Barth,Founder/CEO

Trilogy Financial,Huntington Beach

Jeff Motske,President/CEO

2020 EXCELLENCE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD NOMINEES

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A-22 ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXCELLENCE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD NOMINEES AUGUST 10, 2020

US Alliance Group Inc., Rancho Santa Margarita

Fadi Cheikha, CEO

uDirect IRA Services,Irvine

Kaaren Hall, CEO

Unbiazed LLC, Brea

Danny Basu, ManagingPartner

Unbiazed LLC, Brea

Roger Pakalapatty,Managing Partner

Uplift Transport,Irvine

Greg Krueger, Founder

Veronica Kirin Inc.,Long Beach

Veronica Kirin, President

VF Developments LLC,Costa Mesa

Victoria Vu, ManagingPartner/Founder

Vincit, Irvine

Ville Houttu, CEO

ViridiSTOR LLC, Tustin

Terry Mullin,President/CEO

Wahoo’s Fish Taco,Tustin

Eduardo Lee, Co-Founder/Partner

Ware Malcomb, Irvine

Lawrence Armstrong,Chairman

WindWater Real Estate,Irvine

Rudy Caamano, CEO

WurkNow Inc., Irvine

Sammy Singh, CEO/CO-Founder

Zadara Storage Inc., Irvine

Nelson Nahum, CEO

2020 EXCELLENCE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD NOMINEES www.ocbj.com A

Quiksilver Inc. and his son, Robbie Mc-Knight. Together they bring more than 50 yearsof experience in sports apparel and retail. Connections run deep; golf apparel firm

TravisMathew, which acquired Robbie Mc-Knight’s shoe company Cauter ahead of its own$125.5 million sale to Callaway Golf Com-pany in 2017, is also making contributions toSurf City. The casual sports apparel firm’s co-founder

Travis Brasher and president emeritus RyanEllis are both investors and advisory boardmembers, along with the McKnights.Quiksilver, which now operates under the um-brella of Boardriders Inc., and TravisMatheware based in Huntington Beach, a few milesfrom Surf City’s operations.In the beverage department, Surf City has alsowon the attention of Bart and Dan DeClark,co-founders of artificial sweetener maker FlavorInfusion International. The company has op-

� from page 3Surf CityOwners Elena and Josh Kornof and Chris andSara Van Dusen

erations in Laguna Beach and Panama. They’realso investors and advisory board members.“I think I can speak for the advisory boardwhen I say that we’re proud to be in-vesting in our local community and ina product as cool as this,” Bob McK-night said. “We will use our experi-ence to guide the distillery to becomeone of the most recognizable and en-joyed brands in the space.”“We believe our story is one of mo-mentum,” Van Dusen said.“The alcohol business is a difficultone, and finding the right distributionpartner and the right advisory boardmembers is really the challenge. Wethink we’re positioned well in the cur-rent environment, as the only distillery in Hunt-ington Beach and one of the few in OC. We aregrowing extremely fast and we couldn’t be hap-pier to see our brand resonating with the com-munity.”

Sales Afloat Since the pandemic, retail sales via its dis-

tributor Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spiritsare up more than 50%, according to VanDusen.

Surf City’s spirits are available atCostco, Albertsons, Total Wine &More, among others.Director of Sales Ben Carpenter,most recently the beverage directorfor Newport Beach’s Balboa BayResort, is driving retail growth andbrand expansion, Van Dusen said.Meanwhile, the company has alsoseen 30% to 40% of its overall salescome from curbside pickup, whileits tasting room remains closed in ac-cordance with the state, he said. Like other area booze makers such

as Santa Ana’s Blinking Owl Distillery, SurfCity has helped make bulk sanitizer for com-mercial and personal use during the pandemic.After an initial flurry of sales, that product linehas seen slower sales as the year has pro-gressed and larger national sanitizer manufac-turers upped their production.Other new hires include Bill Auxier, who

was tapped as head distiller just in time to over-see capacity expansion from 5 gallons perminute to 8 gallons per minute in the distillery.He will bring innovation to the menu in theform of new spirits. Auxier was previously production managerand distiller at Los Angeles-based GreenbarDistillery. Van Dusen said consumers can expect to seenew canned cocktail flavors and a new cate-gory of hard seltzer drinks hit the menu nextyear. �

Surf City Still Works

� FOUNDED: 2018� FOUNDERS: Josh and Elena Kornof � HEADQUARTERS: Huntington Beach � BUSINESS: distillery� PRODUCTS: Shorebreak Vodka, CaliforniaGin, Surfrider Rum, Pierside Bourbon� NOTABLE: expanding to 25K-SF facilitywith $2.7M investment

Canned cocktails: 4-pack for $14.00 Surf City's restored bus won best in class in the Huntington Beach clas-sic car show in 2014

McKnight: ‘proud tobe investing in local

community’

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