Applications for the Entrepreneur of the Year® Greater Los Angeles 2025 program are now open, inviting applications and nominations until the deadline on March 7, 2025.

History of the Entrepreneur of the Year® Program

Since its founding in 1986, Entrepreneur of the Year® has celebrated the achievements of more than 11,000 entrepreneurs in the United States, having expanded to nearly 60 countries since its founding. Each year, the program celebrates those ambitious entrepreneurs who work to build an equitable, sustainable, and prosperous future.

Celebrating the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Throughout the world, the Entrepreneur of the Year® program invites various business leaders across numerous industries to take part in a celebration of entrepreneurship. For a combination of ingenuity, courage, and sheer entrepreneurial spirit, the program recognizes founders who worked to build an innovative business.

“We celebrate original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company,” the program’s website proudly states; “transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.”

How the Entrepreneur of the Year Program® Works

However an entrepreneur’s business got its start, whatever challenges they faced along the way, all that matters is that their work has made a meaningful contribution on a global scale. The competition begins at a regional level, such as the Greater Los Angeles program. Each year, these regional competitions gather a panel of judges who select entrepreneurs to become regional finalists and winners during an awards celebration in June.

In 2024, the Greater Los Angeles area program winners included Greg LaVecchia and Mari Llewellyn of Bloom Nutrition; David Yeom of Evite; Larry Wu of GigaCloud Technology; Daniel Winer of HexClad; Darren Litt of Hiya Health; Cassandra Thurswell of Kitsch; Will Ferrell, Larry Friedman, and Bennett Rosenthal of LAFC; Everett Sands of Lendistry; Peter Fisher and Alexander Israel of Metropolis; Melissa Palmer of OSEA Malibu; and Amy Liu of Tower 28 Beauty.

Following a regional competition, regional winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November. During this stage, national finalists and award winners are announced. Whichever entrepreneur is the overall national winner will go on to represent the United States at the World Entrepreneur of the Year competition.

Necessary Information for Applications and Nominations

The Entrepreneur of the Year® website provides the details for applying as a candidate or nominating one, as well as the benefits of participation, eligibility requirements, judging criteria, and the program timeline. Overall, an application must provide information about the entrepreneur and their company including financial data, as well as a set of narratives about the entrepreneur and their company, each limited to 2,000 characters.

A company must have been in business for at least two years to participate, and only for-profit businesses may apply. Judges evaluate nominees based on many criteria, including, but not limited to entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, impact, and financial performance.

Benefits of Participation in Entrepreneur of the Year®

2024 regional finalists in the Greater Los Angeles area generated more than $4.2 billion in 2023, experienced 96% average revenue growth over the most recent three-year period, employed nearly 7,000 individuals in 2023, and experienced an average of 69% employee growth over the most recent three-year period.

Furthermore, those who participate are afforded the opportunity to build valuable relationships with other entrepreneurs who are leading successful businesses across a multitude of industries. By establishing connections with these individuals, attendees can increase their exposure to potential customers, suppliers, and investors alike.

Advancing the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Entrepreneur of the Year® invites attendees to “shape the future with confidence,” gathering a community of mutual prosperity to continue building a sustainable and prosperous future.