Editor’s Note:
In the print edition of this column, the item about the departure of Chris Myers from Mellon 1st Business Bank gave an incorrect figure for the number of people who had left the company in the past year. The correct number is 40 people.
Luck, long hours and a willingness to take risks are some of the qualities often mentioned by entrepreneurs who have built their own businesses from scratch.
This year, several finalists for Los Angeles-area Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards were nominated with their fellow founders.
Jonathan Carson and Eric Kurtzman, two lawyers who ditched the law profession to create Kurtzman Carson Consultants LLC, a technology start-up catering to attorneys, were nominated jointly for the award.
Chuck Champion, president of pari-mutuel horse racing web site Youbet.com, is paired with the firm’s chief executive David Marshall.
A handful of other finalists were nominated without their co-founders including Steven Foster, co-founder of Hollywood-based Lucky Strike Entertainment Inc.; Brian P.Y. Liu, co-founder and chief executive of Los Angeles-based LegalZoom.com; and Mehran Nia, co-founder and chief executive of Carson-based U.S. Auto Parts Inc.
Several finalists are serial entrepreneurs including C. Bryce Benjamin, who founded Language Weaver, a translation software firm in Marina del Rey; Stuart Levy, founder and chief executive of Los Angeles-based Tokyopop, a marketer of Japanese anime; David Lord, chief executive of Beverly Hills-based RazorGator Interactive Group, a provider of tickets for sports and entertainment events; Isaac Shepher, founder of Encino-based medical response company Life Alert Emergency Response Inc. (which coined the phrase “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”); and Mark Theis, president of Westlake Village-based mortgage lender HMS Capital.
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When 60-year-old Richard Gilchrist resigned as president and co-chief executive of Maguire Properties Inc. in December, he said he wanted to spend more time with his family and retire at his estate in rural Virginia.
Gilchrist had been hired to calm Wall Street investors during the run-up to Maguire’s IPO. Soon after the offering, he parted ways with the firm and co-chief executive and chairman Rob Maguire, a notoriously tough and demanding executive.
The retirement apparently is postponed. Gilchrist, who has been consulting for the Irvine Co., last week was named president of its office division, where he will oversee the construction of two high-rise buildings in Irvine Spectrum.
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The turnover at Los Angeles-based Mellon 1st Business Bank has reached the top.
The latest defector is Chris Myers, Mellon’s chairman and chief executive. Myers, a longtime banker in Southern California, was named president and chief executive of Ontario-based CVB Financial Corp., parent of Citizens Business Bank. He replaced Linn Wiley, who will remain as vice chairman. Mellon has lost 40 employees in the past year.
Staff reporter Kate Berry can be reached at
[email protected]
or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.
