South Coast Business & Technology Awards help fund opportunities

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) The networking reception and the South Coast Business & Technology Awards at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort isn't just about the award winners.

It is about students and graduates.

Entrepreneur of the Year William Wang is a the founder and CEO of ChipAgents, an AI-native platform redefining the way semiconductors are designed.

"It is really important to position Santa Barbara as an innovation hub we have more exciting technologies to innovate for young people," said Wang.

Wang said a lot of their hires are people born and raised in Santa Barbara who went to school at UCSB.

"I have been a UCSB professor in the last 10 years before I started the company and to see education and entrepreneurship altogether that is just so important to our ecosystem," said Wang.

Proceeds from the awards dinner benefit the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara.

Board Chair Pamela Gann said the event, that began 25 years ago, has raised $3.5 million for scholarships that have helped 1300 students cover college costs.

Cal Poly graduate and award-winning architect Erik Holiday was a former student speaker.

He said his parents had grit and that the foundation helped them put their sons through college.

"Staring down the barrel of three sons in college at the same time the funds afforded to my brothers and I in the coming years would make it possible for us to be the third generation to go to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and study architecture, business and industrial technology," said Holiday.

Holiday recently returned to the area to join his father's firm.

The South Coast Business & Technology Awards named Mission Wealth Company of The Year.

"We have internships, we love having young people come in and take their contagious energy to create opportunities for them with career advancement," said Mission Wealth co-founder Seth Streeter.

The company has expanded this year.

"At Mission Wealth we are so happy to serve over 5200 families across the U.S., we manage $17 billion assets and have over 225 incredible team members and we have just really taken off and we are just so excited to have the incredible talent here in Santa Barbara as the hub," said Streeter, " Brad Stark and I founded the firm here in Santa Barbara and it will always be a big part of our culture and our DNA."

UCSB Department of Technology Management received the Excellence in Service Honoree award.

AppFolio CEO Shane Trigg is the 2026 Executive of the Year.

The Carey Group's President Trudi Carey is the 2026 Pioneer Honoree.

Dimer Instruments and Unwrap are this year's Rising Stars.

For more information visit https://sbscholarship.org