ACG Orange County Recognizes Top Companies at 20th Annual Awards Gala

NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwired - May 15, 2015) - The Association for Corporate Growth Orange County chapter ("ACG-OC") bestowed coveted awards celebrating Orange County's highest performing companies last night at the organization's 20^th Annual Awards Gala held at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach.

Presented by Hughes Marino, a Southern California leader in commercial tenant representation, the gala recognized the achievements of Orange County and Inland Empire based companies excelling in a variety of categories as judged by an independent review panel of academic and business professionals.

Out of more than 100 nominations, 30 finalists were selected to make it to the last round of interviews. 

"Orange County continues to incubate the most exceptional talent and innovation in the business community, spawning remarkable companies and individuals," said J. Michael Issa, ACG Orange County president and principal of GlassRatner Advisory and Capital Group. "As an organization that aggressively facilitates education, networking and collaboration among the business talent that exists in the local community, it's appropriate that our 20^th anniversary of this respected event honors OC's best and brightest."

The winning companies include:

Growth Award - Over $40M - Home Franchise Concepts
Growth Award - Under $40M - Slater's 50/50
Spotlight Award - Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Corporate Responsibility - Fluidmaster
Green Award - Greenwave Systems
Sustainability Award - FirstElement Fuel, Inc.
Reinventing Strategy Award - Meridian
Reinventing Finance & Operations Award - Driftwood Dairy
Innovation Award - Verismic Software, Inc.
Founders Award - Alignment Healthcare

About ACG Orange County
Founded in 1954, the Association for Corporate Growth is a global organization with 56 chapters involved in corporate growth, corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions. ACG's 14,000 members include professionals from private equity firms, corporations and lenders that invest in middle-market companies, as well as from law, accounting, investment banking and other firms that provide advisory services.