Business Journal’s 19th annual Women in Business Awards

With over 900 in attendance at the Hyatt Regency Irvine The Annual Women in Business Awards Luncheon & Program honors five exceptional business and professional OC women.

The 5 honorees were selected out of a field of 234 nominees from a diverse array of industries including finance, real estate, law, technology, fashion and beauty, and the nonprofit sector, among others.

Honorees are chosen based on their professional achievements, leadership and entrepreneurial skills, and community service. They are a compelling group of women prominent in a variety of private industries, government positions and community organizations.

The 5 business women awarded were:

• Wendy Cupps, global head of product management for Pacific Investment Management Co. in Newport Beach. Cupps is a 24-year veteran of the investment industry. She’s played a role launching more than 200 funds for Pimco, which has more than $2 trillion in assets under management.
• Lynn Salo, vice president of sales and marketing for Irvine-based Allergan Inc. Salo counts stints in the domestic and international markets and took on her latest assignment in December.
• Karen Rager-Takeda, founder and president of Rager Resources Group LLC, an executive recruiting firm that started in 2008 in Irvine. Rager Resources now has nine recruitment specialists across the U.S. and more than 30 corporate clients.
• Karen Such, vice president of operations for PPS Parking & Transportation Inc. in Santa Ana. Such joined the company during its startup phase and helped guide it to more than $5 million in revenue within several years.
• Laura Archuleta, president of Jamboree Housing Corp. in Irvine. Archuleta has overseen the nonprofit’s growth from three employees with 750 units of housing into one the 30 largest developers of affordable housing in the U.S., with a portfolio of more than 7,000 homes and more than $1 billion in assets under management.