Hana Financial, Inc. announced that president and chief executive officer Sunnie Kim has won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 award for financial services in the Greater Los Angeles Region. Seven winners were named at the E&Y gala held at The Beverly Hilton.

“I am honored by this prestigious award,” Kim said. “And I am grateful to the people of Hana and all of our clients who have enabled me through their passion and hard work to continue to achieve my vision.”

The E&Y award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.

E&Y recognized Kim for her creation and leadership of Hana Financial, Inc., which she co-founded in 1994, as well as a career in which she has redefined the roles of women in Asian enterprises. At a time when traditional lenders shied away from family-owned Korean American garment businesses, Kim took a risk by creating an unprecedented company that provided dynamic factoring services to a community she believed would flourish if given the opportunity. Over the past 17 years, her vision has been realized as Hana’s hundreds of clients have generated $14 billion.

Today, Hana Financial, Inc. has evolved into one of the nation’s top-10 factors, one of the nation’s top-25 SBA lenders, and an up-and-coming player in mortgage lending.

Now in its 26th year, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 140 cities in more than 50 countries throughout the world.

Kim, along with the other award winners, is eligible for consideration for the Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur Of The Year Program. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur Of The Year Overall Award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 17.

Hana Financial, Inc. is a non-bank direct lender specializing in factoring, inventory financing, trade finance, equipment leasing, home mortgages, and SBA loans.