Commerce Lexington has announced this year's finalists for its recognition of Small Business of the Year, Minority Business of the Year and Independent Professional of the Year, which will be named at its 23rd annual Small Business Celebration Awards Dinner on Thursday, September 25.
Finalists and award winners for the honors are judged based on their excellence in several areas, including staying power, response to adversity, community involvement, company products and services, and growth. This year's celebration dinner, which features Joseph-Beth Group owner and CEO Neil Van Uum as its keynote speaker, will highlight both old and new aspects of some of today's thriving local small businesses, including their significant contributions to the local economy and their ability to stand the test of time.
The dinner will be held on Thursday, September 25, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort & Spa. The cost to attend is $45 per person, or $450 per table of ten. For more information, check Commerce Lexington's Web site at www.commercelexington.com.
2008 SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS:
Smiley Pete Publishing
Smiley Pete Publishing began in 1997 with two guys fresh out of college, a borrowed basement, computer and telephone line, and $200. More than ten years later, publishers Chuck Creacy and Chris Eddie have transformed it into a multi-million dollar company with three publications, four Web sites, 13 full-time employees, a couple of interns and hundreds of freelance writers. Smiley Pete Publishing specializes in content that is locally focused and locally generated. Its family of publications includes Business Lexington, Chevy Chaser Magazine, and Southsider Magazine. Chevy Chaser Magazine, which celebrates its eleventh year this October, is the longest-running neighborhood-based publication distributed in Lexington. Smiley Pete Publishing has certainly adapted to changing technology, becoming a true multi-media company through multiple forms of communication: print, web, podcasting, e-mail, and television with the recent launch of Business Lexington TV. This is the second consecutive year that Smiley Pete Publishing has been named a Finalist for Small Business of the Year.
Holifield Photography, Inc.
The studio that began in 1974 as a part-time wedding photography business is now the largest photography studio in Central Kentucky, with 6,000-square feet of space, four camera rooms, and six full time photographers. Jim Holifield bought his first 35mm camera in 1972, and by 1978, he turned his passion for photography into a full-time endeavor when he left his job at the Juvenile Detention Center in Fayette County to launch Holifield Photography. About a year later, he asked his wife Theresa to leave her job at the University of Kentucky to become the office manager. In the early days, Jim and Theresa never turned down a photography job, and Jim often went door-to-door to daycare centers offering to take school pictures. Today, they provide photography services for a multitude of subjects: children, high school seniors and other area schools, families, weddings, executives and businesses, and youth recognition programs. Like most small businesses, Holifield Photography has had to adapt to changing technology with the advent of digital photography. Although most of Jim's work over the years has involved people during the "happy times" in their lives, he never forgot the troubled youth with whom he worked in the past, and set out to create a variety of recognition programs for kids who were doing good things in their lives.
United Way of the Bluegrass
Three words easily come to mind when describing the United Way of the Bluegrass - impact, community and longevity. For more than 86 years, United Way of the Bluegrass has been raising and investing community dollars in worthy efforts to meet the most basic needs of the citizens of Central Kentucky. Through its core mission of improving our community, the locally incorporated 501(c)3 organization invests more than $150 million and currently funds 83 partner agencies representing 145 programs. Over time, United Way of the Bluegrass has shifted its focus from crisis and emergency situations to one that mobilizes financial resources and invests in community solutions that are long-lasting and transformational. In 2008, the organization adopted this new strategic approach - advancing the common good by focusing on the basic things we all need for a good life: education, income and health. Some of the local initiatives you may recognize include United Way 2-1-1, an information and referral service, a volunteer center that connects people with volunteer opportunities, and Success By 6, which helps ensure that young children are born healthy remain healthy, are nurtured and ready to enter school by age six.
2008 MINORITY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS:
Wallace Barber State Farm Insurance Agency
Wallace Barber State Farm Insurance offers over 90 different products ranging from auto, home, life, and health insurance, and the agency is licensed to sell State Farm Bank products, such as checking and savings accounts, as well as providing vehicle financing with competitive interest rates. Barber's agency has seen enormous growth in less than three years, increasing from zero households to more than 1,000. This rapid growth has brought several awards and recognitions from State Farm. With over 21 State Farm agents in the Lexington area, Barber cited his biggest challenge as distinguishing his agency from others in town through an aggressive marketing campaign. Despite his rapid success, Barber still finds it important to give back to the community. After completing the United Way's Get On Board program, he was named to the board of directors of the YMCA Black Achievers, and he also volunteers with Junior Achievement.
Technology Consulting Group America
Technology Consulting Group America was started by co-owners Jeff Thompson, Marcus Simpson, and Tina Williams. After working with larger technology companies, the ownership recognized the need to offer enterprise level IT services to the SMB market. TCG America provides a full range of services from the Internet to the desktop, and one of its niche markets includes the medical industry, assisting healthcare companies in satisfying HIPAA regulations, implementing/supporting EMR applications and providing reliable scanning solutions across multiple sites. Since its opening in 2006, TCG America has expanded its partners to include Microsoft, Secure Computing, Cisco, Citrix, HP, Dell, Kaspersky, Castelle and many more. Partnerships with local and national companies have enabled TCG America to provide web hosting services, on-line backup/recovery services for small businesses, and fast response times for on-site and remote IT services. This is the second straight year that TCG America has been named a Finalist for Minority Business of the Year honors.
TKT & Associates, Inc.
TKT & Associates, Inc. was founded in April 2006 by Tierra Kavanaugh Turner after she served as the first executive director of the Governor's Office for Minority Empowerment. The consulting firm was created with a mission to assist government entities, contractors and corporate clients with the development and management of effective supplier participation programs. Turner chose FastTracÆ small business growth programs to help increase the competitiveness, performance and sustainability of small, disadvantaged, minority- and women-owned businesses. Over 150 business owners have completed TKT's FastTrac programs since its launch in May 2007. In 2006, her firm was awarded the contract to manage the Kentucky Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program for the Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project - the nation's largest transportation project. Then, in June 2008, TKT & Associates was awarded the contract to manage the supplier participation program for Blue Grass Airport.
2008 INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS:
Mary Claire O'Neal Communication Consulting, LLC
Mary Claire O'Neal started her communication consulting business as a sole proprietor in Lexington in 1995. The first five years of the business included workshops in effective communication offered through Continuing Education at UK and then LCC, and at various conferences. She was recently elected to serve on the board of directors of the National Speakers Association/Kentucky. Her business now focuses on communication consulting, coaching, publishing, and customized staff training for corporate clients, national associations and business meetings, as well as corporate and organizational leadership retreats. O'Neal recently took a semi-sabbatical from her business to write a book, edit it, and create her own publishing company to publish and market it. The book is entitled "Becoming What You Want to See in the World," and has won three national awards. Internationally, it was featured at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, and the foreign rights have been sold with the book published and available in 20 countries. Prior to 2000, O'Neal's consulting and speaking work was mainly in Kentucky. Today, it has extended throughout the U.S. and into other countries. This is the second consecutive year that Mary Claire O'Neal has been named a Finalist for Independent Professional of the Year.
Retirement Tax Advisory Group
A Transylvania University graduate, Hampton Scurlock III, CFPÆ, began working in the financial services industry in 1998, and after working for a large firm for three years, he decided he wanted to work for his clients and not on behalf of a large company. Thus, he started Scurlock Financial Services, an independent company, in 2001. In 2004, Scurlock re-named his business as Retirement Tax Advisory Group, because of its unique approach to financial planning, and his ability to offer tax, insurance, and investment advice at one convenient location. Scurlock is one of only a few people in this area to have earned the designation of Certified Financial PlannerÆ, and after passing the CFP examination, he restructured his company to offer fee-based services, with no commissions charged and no conflicts of interest to recommend a certain company's investments. By setting an aggressive goal this year to add one new client per week, Scurlock has been able to double the total investments that he manages. He also writes numerous financial articles, conducts speaking engagements, and is writing a book on investing and financial planning.
Serif Group
The dream of being self-employed happened much earlier than expected for Bill and Jackie Powell, co-owners of the Serif Group. When Bill found himself on the outside of an advertising sales job in 2000, he decided to go to work for himself. Jackie, who at the time was six months pregnant and working at Gray Construction, fully supported Bill's decision to put his experience to work. Not wanting to miss any of her first baby's milestones, Jackie left Gray and was soon working side-by-side with Bill in the home-based business. In the beginning, the Serif Group offered only basic graphic design services, but today, it has been transformed into a full service advertising agency, offering marketing, design, copywriting, media planning, web services, and more. In 2006, the Serif Group relocated to larger office space on East Reynolds Road, and since then, the agency has launched a publication entitled "Baby in the Bluegrass" for expecting families and an e-mail marketing service called Inbox Orange.