Orange County Business Journal reported that the sixteenth-annual Innovator of the Year Award winners dinner was recently held at Fashion Island's Ocean forty-eight. The event featured Brett Wall as the keynote speaker, who also won an award in 2025.
Among the honorees and participants were several local entities. Rick Van Kirk, CEO of Irvine-based medical-device manufacturer Pro-Dex, was noted for a childhood feat of stopping the Seattle Space Needle revolving floor motor at nine years old, situated five hundred feet above the ground.
In other local business news, Cypress-based plant-powered cleaning products maker ECOS partners with City of Hope on a program called RENEW Hope. Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks told Orange County Business Journal, "Since losing my mom to cancer nearly 20 years ago, I’ve wanted to do everything I can to protect other families from experiencing such a great loss." Vlahakis-Hanks also told Orange County Business Journal, "I am extremely passionate about educating people about toxins in cleaning products, especially carcinogenic ingredients, and how to create a healthy home."
Additionally, the XPrize Foundation announced winners of its eleven million dollar wildfire competition, which saw three hundred thirty-six teams enter. Anduril Industries won first place for autonomous wildfire response platforms, earning one million two hundred thousand dollars for the recognition.