Chris Irish

Background

About Chris Irish

Chris Irish has always been a serial entrepreneur, taking calculated risks based on his creative vision and drive to succeed. Self-employed since junior high school, Irish became known as the party guy at Turlock High School in California’s Central Valley — but not in the way you may think. Irish organized theme parties, Battle of the Bands events and elevated speakeasies where students could gather. Little did he know at the time, he was setting the stage for a wildly successful career as owner of Event Extravagant Group. Irish’s first love was the automobile, and he 1979 he founded Custom Connections, a window tinting and car customizing shop. Just seven years later he owned 15 stores in three counties. In 1991 he founded Concept creating concept automotive project cars for McMullen & Yee Publishing, leading to appearances in 36 magazines (including six cover stories), twice winning vehicle of the year — unprecedented for an independent designer. In 1997 he became founding partner of JCD Concept an event production company. Irish sold his shares in and started Next Fx, a themed-event production company that creates custom manufacturing of props and décor for the special event industry. He 2008 he assembled a group of investors and formed Event Extravagant Group, a diversified business with eight specialized companies under one roof — a one-stop event planning shop serving San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Modesto and Monterey. Now 51, Irish was a 2011 nominee for Meeting Professionals International Planner of the year, and won that honor the same year from the California Chamber of Commerce. He lives in Turlock and serves on the advisory board of the Turlock Film Commission.