The 81 largest women-owned businesses based in Orange County combined for $3 billion in revenue in 2012, a 10.6% gain from a year earlier.
This week’s Business Journal list ranks businesses that are at least 51% owned by female executives. It represents a wide range of business sectors, including tourism, information technology, insurance and construction.
The Business Journal lowered the cutoff for entries to $5 million in annual revenue from the previous threshold of $7 million. The lower entry point, along with increased participation and improved research, led to 51 additional companies compared with last year’s list.
The bulk of the entries—53 companies—had revenue increases last year, with 16 companies reporting decreases. Three firms saw no changes in revenue, and the Business Journal estimated numbers for nine companies.
The firms on the list collectively grew their companywide workforces by nearly 2%, for 22,538 employees overall as of May. Employment at their Orange County operations grew at a slightly faster clip, at 2.4% growth, to 5,262 workers.
More than 40 of the companies on the list made new local hires over the past year, and 21 companies made cuts. Employee totals for 12 firms stayed the same, and those for six companies were based on estimates.
The two largest women-owned companies in OC kept their spots from last year.
In-N-Out
• Irvine-based In-N-Out Burgers Inc. topped the list again with an estimated $528 million in revenue. The burger chain is owned by Lynsi Torres, granddaughter of the company’s late founders. A report by Bloomberg published in February estimated Torres, who serves as the company’s president, to be one of the youngest female billionaires in the world. In-N-Out employs an estimated 1,400 workers in OC.
• No. 2 Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel had a revenue increase of less than 1%, to $233.8 million. The dealer is 100% owned by Lorelei Pingree and has 240 employees after hiring 15 over the past year.
• Santa Ana-based travel agency Worldview Travel came in third as a newcomer on the list. The company had a 10% increase in revenue, to $185.3 million. It has 60 employees in OC, up from a year-earlier total of 51. Its companywide employee count increased by 32%, to 140.
Worldview founder Ricci Zukerman is a five-time winner of Condé Nast Traveler’s Travel Specialist Award. The company said it is expecting to reach $375 million in sales this year.
• Irvine-based Technologent, also a newcomer to the list, was the fourth-largest women-owned business.
Its revenue grew by more than 84% to $140 million. The $64 million gain was the largest increase in terms of dollar value on the list.
Technologent expanded its local workforce by 62%, for a total of 68 employees. The company has 157 workers overall in a number of offices nationwide.
• Pacific Pioneer Insurance Group fell two spots to No. 15, despite a 20% revenue growth to $55.2 million. The company has 63 employees in OC, up by one over the past year.
Owner Lin Wu Lan founded the Cypress-based firm in 1980 as a retail insurance agency under the Unico Insurance Agency brand, primarily to provide coverage for the growing Chinese immigrant community.
Unico, which serves as a brokerage firm under Pacific Pioneer’s umbrella, is now among the largest Chinese independent insurance agencies nationwide.
Pacific Pioneer also operates through other subsidiaries, including UCA General Insurance Services Inc. and Pacific Excess Insurance Marketing Inc.
Biggest Percentage Growth
• Mission Viejo-based ACR Builders Inc. enjoyed the largest percentage growth in revenue, with a 649% jump to $7.3 million from $978,022. The 3-year-old construction company made the list at No. 62.
Last year’s revenue growth came on a couple of “very large projects,” according to ACR founder and Chief Executive Michele Richardson, who started the company with her husband Steve, who serves as president. Recent projects include construction work on a Nordstrom Rack store in Huntington Beach that opened last fall.
Key factors behind the growth were established relationships with clients and with the company’s banks, Richardson said.
“It’s kind of unusual for women to be in construction in general, but I like this industry,” Richardson said. “It works for us.”
Owning her own business also has allowed Richardson to keep a flexible schedule.
“We have four kids,” she said. “I can still take care of things on the family side and run the company.”
n Santa Ana-based Desert Jet debuted at No. 73 with $5.8 million in revenue. The company offers private charter flights and other services, including aircraft management, maintenance and operation assistance. It opened an OC office in November and has three employees here, operating three jets out of John Wayne Airport.
7 Jets
The company was founded in 2007 and has expanded to a fleet of seven jets, including those in Palm Springs and San Diego. It’s among the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., according to a ranking by Inc. Magazine.
“From 2011 to 2012, we made a determined change to place our values first and work only with clients who share our core values,” Chief Executive Denise Wilson said. “Surprisingly, even though we ‘fired’ some clients, our business actually grew even faster than the year prior.”
Wilson has been a pilot for 13 years after a career as a professional oboist.
“My intent at the time was to find a hobby that would be relaxing,” Wilson said. “Flying was more relaxing than playing the oboe. I was basically flying almost every day, and it came to a point where I had to make a decision where I was going to spend my life.”
Wilson is based in the OC office and flies about 15 days a month.
“6% of all certificated pilots in the U.S. are women,” she said. “A much smaller percentage of those have started their own charter company. This has been the right path for me, as it has allowed me to create my vision of anticipatory service within aviation, as well as continue my dream of flying.”
Download the 2013 OC’s TOP WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES list (pdf)
