Apparently even accountants can poke fun at themselves.
Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award last week at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, featured a funky compilation of filmed interviews with people in downtown Los Angeles answering the question: What is Ernst & Young?
Judging by some of the responses a rock ‘n’ roll band, a new restaurant and a law firm the company may need to do a bit more marketing.
Nevertheless, 600 people dressed in tuxedos and long gowns showed up on a steamy Tuesday night for a chance to honor local entrepreneurs.
And the winners are:
– in the emerging growth category, David Lord, president and CEO of RazorGator Interactive Group;
– in financial services, Ed Wedbush, president and CEO of Wedbush Morgan Securities;
– in technology, Ming Hsieh, chairman and CEO of Cogent Systems; in entertainment, Steven Foster, president of Lucky Strike Entertainment;
– and in consumer products, Isaac Shepherd, president of Life Alert Emergency Response Inc.
Brad Jones, managing director of Redpoint Ventures, received the award for the best supporter of entrepreneurship.
The winners will compete for the national Entrepreneur of the Year awards in Palm Springs on Nov. 18. The national winner will then be considered for a world event held in Monte Carlo.
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A grassroots campaign aimed at getting investors to pull money out of war-torn Sudan is now targeting the Los Angeles City Employee Retirement System, also known as Lacers.
Representatives from Jewish World Watch and the student-led Sudan Divestment Task Force met last week in an effort to convince the Lacers corporate governance committee to divest itself from companies with ties to Sudan.
So far this year, the UC Board of Regents and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System have both voted to divest of their Sudan holdings. The $208 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System has identified $1.5 billion in Sudan-linked holdings, but has not yet made a decision to unload them.
Los Angles attorney Janice Kamenir-Reznik, who is president of Jewish World Watch, said it was unusual for a Jewish group to commit to a divestment campaign because some campaigns have targeted Israel.
“We decided in this case it would actually be an act of cowardice not to support divestment,” she said, adding that the Los Angeles City Council passed a unanimous resolution last month supporting divestment. “We’re an anti-genocide organization.”
Staff reporter Kate Berry can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 228, or at
[email protected]
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