Orange County Business Journal

Last Thursday, OCBJ hosted its annual Women in Business Awards at the Irvine Marriott, bringing together hundreds of OC's most accomplished women leaders for an afternoon of recognition, connection and inspiration. Thank you to our honorees, attendees, sponsors and keynote speaker Charlene Reynolds, Director of John Wayne Airport , Orange County, for making this year's event one to remember. See the full photo gallery and event recap at the link below. 📸 Full recap & photos: https://lnkd.in/eaPTNpHt #WomenInBusiness #OrangeCounty #OCBusiness #OCBJ #WomenInLeadership #Awards #EventRecap

The Orange County Business Journal would like to express its gratitude to all the attendees of the 2026 Women in Business Awards. This year, over 800 guests were in attendance, including over 200 remarkable nominees. We extend our congratulations to the 2026 WIB Award Winners: - Molly Jolly, Angels Baseball -Val Achtemeier, CBRE -Heather Perry, Klatch Coffee -Lindsey Spindle, Samueli Foundation -Laura Khouri, Western National Property Management - Vinita Tilve, JPMorgan Chase “Women on the Move” Award: Safety Products Global Thank you to our keynote speaker, Charlene Reynolds, Director of John Wayne Airport. Thank you to our sponsors who make this program possible: Diamond: JP Morgan Chase Platinum: BDO USA, U.S. Bank, Fifth Third Bank, City of Hope OC, PNC, Columbia Bank, Infinity Bank, Orange County Community Foundation, Orange County United Way, Rutan & Tucker, LLP Silver: Marsh McLennan Agency, UC Irvine, John Wayne Airport, EverBank, Eide Bailly, CommerceWest Bank, Bridgeford Trust Company Lastly, thank you to the Irvine Marriott and our vendors for helping this event run seamlessly!

OCBJ's 12th Annual Innovator of the Year Awards special report is live! Spotlighting this year's nominees across health tech, law, finance, manufacturing and more, alongside a look back at past honorees and where they are today. Join us for the Innovator of the Year Awards Luncheon on October 7 at the Irvine Marriott. Brett Wall, former EVP and President of Medtronic Neuroscience and a 2025 Innovator of the Year winner, headlines as keynote speaker. Read the report and secure your seat today. 🔗🎟️Special report & tickets: https://lnkd.in/gJtv6VmB

📰We are thrilled to welcome Rob Smith as the new Editor-in-Chief of the Orange County Business Journal! Rob brings decades of award-winning business journalism leadership to OCBJ, including 11 years as editor-in-chief of the Portland Business Journal and two stints leading the Puget Sound Business Journal. We can't wait to see what he brings to the community of business here in Orange County. Welcome, Rob!🎉 🔗 Full announcement: https://lnkd.in/gVx4JSmt

China's new export controls on drone components and compute hardware are creating a significant opening for Irvine-based Lantronix. The company's AI-powered modules serve as the autonomous "brains" for drone cameras and navigation systems, allowing unmanned vehicles to operate without cloud dependency or communications jamming. Drone-related work grew to $12.6 million in fiscal year 2026. 🔗Full story: https://lnkd.in/gRUYdMFZ

Ralph Opacic built Orange County School of the Arts into one of the country's top-ranked arts high schools over three decades. Now he's bringing that same vision to OC Music & Dance. With a "womb to tomb" program model spanning early childhood classes for babies as young as 6 months all the way through adult dance and fitness. 🔗Full story: https://lnkd.in/gYtG5nKJ

Planning to sell your business? One of the most impactful moves you can make is giving before you sell, not after. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner John Williams and OC investor Greg Palmer lay out why donating a portion of business equity prior to a sale is far more tax-efficient than writing a check after. 🔗Full story: https://lnkd.in/gNPJYkcx

Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill are moving their shared Irvine headquarters to the Irvine Company's 254,000-square-foot Alton HQ campus. The three-building campus in Irvine Spectrum will be renovated to accommodate more than 1,100 employees with nearly double the current meeting capacity, a dining center for 300+, a 4,000-square-foot photo studio, a fitness center, daycare and a dedicated test kitchen for Habit Burger's menu development team. The move is expected by spring 2028. 🔗 Full story: https://lnkd.in/gHgHkZcg

Orange County's business community gives back in ways that rarely make headlines, and our OC Philanthropy 2026 special report brings that work into the light. Inside: editorial features on the philanthropies and initiatives shaping OC communities, OCBJ's Corporate Foundations List ranking the region's most active corporate giving programs, and nonprofit advertorials connecting causes with the executives and companies best positioned to support them. 🔗Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/gQ5KA-jG

Happy Labor Day from OCBJ. For a limited time, get a full year of the Orange County Business Journal for $59! Your subscription includes weekly in-depth coverage in print and digital, special features like OC's Wealthiest, the Giving Guide, and OC500, plus the annual Book of Lists spotlighting Orange County's top companies across every industry. Subscribers who sign up today also receive our OC Philanthropy 2026 special report, free. This offer won't last, lock in your rate now: https://lnkd.in/dXkpZvWX