The team at Olmstead Williams Communications

Olmstead Williams Communications has been honored by the Los Angeles Business Journal for the third straight year as one of the 25 largest independent PR agencies in L.A. County. The agency earned the No. 18 spot on the list, which ranked agencies by their 2011 county fee income.

“We’re thankful to be recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal for doing what we enjoy,” said Tracy Olmstead Williams, CEO of Olmstead Williams Communications, which she founded in 2008 after more than 25 years as a top public relations and crisis communications expert.

Karmin decided to bring manufacturing back to the United States from China and take it in-house a few years ago.

“We discovered it was hard to break into the manufacturing business here,” he says in the article. “It’s an oligopoly. There were very few domestic suppliers and they were tied up with other manufacturers, so we had to go overseas for mattress springs and other parts. It wasn’t until 2007, when the housing slowdown started to affect us, that we purchased our own equipment that allowed us to make all the component parts in-house.”

Veggie Grill CEO Greg Dollarhyde confirmed the company is on track to double within the next 15 months. The company currently operates seven locations in Southern California.

“Public relations is even more important to businesses during economic turmoil,” Tracy Williams, president and CEO of OWC, says in the announcement. “The advent of social media has helped agencies like ours thrive. There are so many more communications levers to pull that opportunities and challenges are growing, making our role critical.”

OWC is a business-to-business public relations and social media firm that focuses on technology and professional services. The company was founded in August 2008, making it the youngest business on the list. OWC generated $1.4 million in revenue in 2010, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Entrepreneur of the Year award winners in Los Angeles -- Front row, left to right: Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck, Riot Games; and Ajay Handa, Columbus Technologies & Services, Inc. Back row: Lyndon Faulkner, Pelican Products, Inc.; Neal Schore, Triton Media Group; Steve Rechnitz, Twin Med LLC; Frank Addante, the Rubicon Project, Inc.; and Perry Wallach accepting for Adam Miller, Cornerstone OnDemand.

For business professionals in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Business Journal‘s weekly “Biz Seen” section is where you want to be. This week’s issue featured a photo of the winners of Ernst & Young’s annual Entrepreneur of the Year awards program and a photo from Broads Circle’s Marketing Me panel luncheon.

The EOY gala for the greater Los Angeles region took place on June 21 at the Beverly Hills Hilton. All regional honorees are invited to the Entrepreneur of The Year National Awards gala, hosted by Jay Leno, on November 12, 2011, in Palm Springs, Calif. The gala is the culminating event of the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum®, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies.

Broads Circle's Marketing Me panel luncheon -- From left, Ali Brown, founder and CEO, Ali International LLC; Joy Chudacoff, founder of Smart Women Smart Solutions; Merri Jill Finstrom, CCO, HUTdogs; Tracy Williams, president and CEO, Olmstead Williams Communications; and Darya Allen-Attar, financial advisor, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and founder of Broads Circle.

The Broads Circle panel luncheon was held at the UCLA Faculty Center on July 13, the panel addressed the most effective methods of promoting professional services and related businesses. Broads Circle is a prestigious networking organization dedicated to building a network of elite professionals and focused on taking women to the next and highest level in business.

Hughes, a business development leader at E&Y’s downtown LA office, tells Crumpley how the 11-pound miniature pinscher had no collar or ID chip. Hughes, his wife Michelle, and sons Caiden and Kylan were in the market to adopt, but they followed the proper procedures first and took her to an animal shelter. Then, they waited five impatient days before taking their new pet — Freeway, of course – home for good.

According to Grace Russak, senior vice president of Whittier Trust Co., a wealth management firm in South Pasadena that handles intergenerational wealth transfers for billionaires and other affluent individuals, “It’s a huge concern. Who is going to take over the company and how is that going to ensure that the company is properly positioned and managed and how will that affect family dynamics?”

According to the Los Angeles Business Journal, OWC generated $1.4 million in fee income in 2010. The publication also ranked OWC ninth on its “Big Earners” list, with an average of $200,000 in fee income per account executive.

Since December, the firm has secured three new clients as it continues to grow. OWC also expanded its professional team by hiring managing associate Kaitlen Murphy in January 2011 to help oversee the new accounts. Murphy has more than 10 years experience in public relations, marketing and event planning at agencies in Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“Our people share a sense of purpose that starts with the work we do for our clients and extends into the communities in which we live. We’re proud that we are giving more than 2600 hours to great causes in Los Angeles,” said Amanda Massucci, partner in EY’s Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services practice.

The photo above was included in this week’s Los Angeles Business Journal L.A. Biz Seen section.

Tracy Williams (far right), president and CEO of Olmstead Williams Communications, stands with Darya Allen-Attar, founder of Broads Circle, and Dana Hollinger, principal of The Hollinger Group, at Broads Circle's "Looks Can Make You a Million" summer soiree.

Broads Circle, dedicated to building a network of elite professionals, is focused on taking women to the next and highest level in business. The circle brings together women in a variety of industries who share the same career and personal drivers to generate revenue and assume leadership positions.

On July 22, over 100 professionals attended Broads Circle’s “When Your Looks Make You a Million” event. To examine the elements of a successful “look” in the business environment, the organization convened experts in dermatology, hair, makeup and fashion at the UCLA Faculty Center.

Click here to read Tracy Olmstead Williams’ thoughts on the event.