Orange County’s biggest women-owned businesses generated $3.5 billion in revenue last year, notching a 5.6% increase and extending a streak of gains to five years.
This week’s Business Journal list includes 100 businesses with an ownership structure that’s at least 51% female and that takes in a minimum of $5 million in annual sales. They combined to employ more than 26,460 workers, a 2.4% increase.
The businesses accounted for 6,794 jobs in Orange County, up nearly 7.2% from a year earlier. That’s ahead of the pace of the largest private companies based here, which combined for 52,646 local workers over the past year, a 4.5% uptick, according to Business Journal research.
Nearly half of the women-owned enterprises—43—reported revenue increases. Six were about flat from a year ago, and 19 posted decreases. The Business Journal estimated numbers for 32 of the companies.
The list has grown in recent years, due in part to improved research methods. This year’s record total of 100 is up from 88 companies featured last year.
The range of women-owned businesses based here also compares well with our recent general list of privately held companies, with entries ranging from the healthcare industry to information technology, construction, auto dealerships, restaurant chains, jewelry design, and carpet manufacturing.
The three top spots were repeats from last year:
• No. 1, In-N-Out Burgers Inc., reported $584 million in revenue. The Irvine-based burger chain is 100% owned by Lynsi Snyder, the granddaughter of the company’s late founders who’s estimated to be a billionaire based on the chain’s value. In-N-Out added about 300 workers in Orange County for a total of 1,800. It employs 18,600 companywide, a 1.9% uptick.
“Opening new stores year after year is where the bulk of our new associates are concentrated,” Snyder said in an email.
• No. 2, Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel, reported a 4.2% increase in revenue to $250 million. The dealership is owned by Lorelei Pingree and employs about 270 here, the same as last year.
• Irvine-based Technologent, No. 3, posted $213 million in revenue, a 12.7% increase. Lezlie Gallaway owns 51% of the company. Technologent cut the number of its OC-based employees by 12% to 68 in the past year. Its companywide employee count rose 7.1% to 180.
• Systems Source Inc. in Irvine moved up six spots to No. 9. The company, owned by Rosemarie Smith, reported $94.7 million in revenue, a 63.9% uptick. Smith attributed the increase to the “improving economy” and the “good people” who are working for her.
Systems Source, which supplies commercial furniture and other office interior components, including removable walls and flooring, expanded into the Seattle and San Diego markets last year. It has 130 employees companywide, up 12.1%. Its local workforce dropped by 13.3% to 65. Smith explained that some of her OC employees were not counted because they started working offsite, adding, “We are bursting at the seams here and looking to hire more people.”
• Sourcing Solutions LLC, No. 26 and a newcomer to the list, reported a 37.5% increase in revenue to $27.4 million. The Costa Mesa-based company, majority owned by Kara Poovey, specializes in acquiring discontinued IT equipment—servers, data storage, routers or memory—from either manufacturers’ leftover stock or end users’ unused supplies. It tests and certifies the products and resells them through a partnership with Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc. to customers who still need the discontinued parts.
Chief Executive Mike Rubin attributed the growth in revenue to an increase in the number of products it offers. Sourcing Solutions also expanded the pool of manufacturers it works with by 50%. They include Cisco Systems Inc., HP and IBM. The company has 40 employees, up 37.9% from last year’s count.
This week’s list also features 19 newcomers, including:
• Royalty Carpet Mills Inc. in Irvine, which debuted at No. 4. President and Chief Executive Andrea Greenleaf took over the helm from her father and company founder, Mike Derderian, who died in 2013. The company, which calls itself one of the largest carpet manufacturers in the U.S., had an estimated $200 million in revenue last year and employed about 325.
• ACR Builders Inc. in Mission Viejo, part-owned by Michele Richardson. It landed at No. 76. The general contractor reported a 78.5% increase in revenue to $8.2 million. It has 12 employees, a 33.3% increase.
• Painting contractor Borbon Inc., No. 50, which had $14.1 million in revenue, up 10.4%. The Buena Park-based company, owned by Cecilia Morales, employs 125, a 4.2% uptick.
