Orange County Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award
Winners Announced at June 22 Gala
Jun 22, 2000 02:15 AM ET
Business Wire
<<<IRVINE, Calif., Jun 22, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- "Never Give Up" is a motto
that has led Orange County resident Donald Earhart to become one of the
area's most successful entrepreneurs.
A medical industry "turn-around specialist,"
Earhart is known for success in propelling
languishing divisions of Bausch & Lomb and
Abbott Laboratories to new heights. In 1990,
when he came to I-Flow Corp., a Lake
Forest-based company that makes specialized,
pain management products, Earhart met his
match: the company was near bankruptcy and its
core products had failed to get the FDA approval
for human use. But, of course, he was up for the
challenge.
Within a year, Earhart orchestrated a strategic
redesign effort, finished the product and obtained
FDA approval. Today, the company has gained a
reputation as an innovator in acute and chronic
pain management by offering a broader range of
pain management products.
Its products facilitate shorter hospital stays and
quicker recoveries, ultimately reducing the cost of
healthcare for patients. Since Earhart started in
1990, I-Flow has grown to nearly 300 employees,
has enjoyed increasing sales with four
record-breaking years for the company, and is
profitable.
Earhart is one of nine innovative Orange County
entrepreneurs chosen by a panel of independent judges. Winners of the 13th
Annual Orange County Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year(R) Awards
program were announced this evening at a black-tie dinner.
The program recognizes entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence
and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance
and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.
The Year 2000 Orange County Entrepreneurs Of The Year are:
-- Business Services: Robert A. Lotter, CEO -- R.A. Lotter Financial Group,
Newport Beach -- Emerging e-Commerce: S. Lee Hancock, president and CEO
-- Go2 Systems Inc., Irvine -- Healthcare: Donald M. Earhart, chairman,
president and CEO -- I-Flow Corp., Lake Forest -- Manufacturing: Faith
Freeman, CEO, and Scott Freeman, president -- Primal Elements, Garden
Grove -- Real Estate: Kenneth B. Roath, chairman, president and CEO -- Health
Care Property Investors (HCPI), Newport Beach -- Software: Vincent C. Smith,
chairman and CEO -- Quest Software Inc., Irvine -- Technology: Paul F. Folino,
president and CEO -- Emulex Corp., Costa Mesa H. K. Desai, chairman,
president and CEO -- QLogic Corp., Aliso Viejo
The winners were announced at a gala awards ceremony held at the Hyatt
Regency Irvine. The event was the culmination of an intensive search to
identify and recognize Orange County's outstanding entrepreneurs.
Orange County winners are now eligible to participate in Ernst & Young's
National Entrepreneur Of The Year awards competition, the pre-eminent
program honoring outstanding owners of fast-growing companies.
The national search will culminate at a black-tie awards gala in Palm Springs,
Calif., on Nov. 11, 2000, where the national Entrepreneur Of The Year finalists
and winners in several national categories, as well as the National
Entrepreneur Of The Year, will be announced and celebrated by more than
2,000 attendees as part of the Entrepreneur Of The Year International
Conference.>>> |
