2013 Small Business Rock Stars

2013 Small Business Rock Stars

1 LAURI JO'S SOUTHERN STYLE CANNING – COLQUIT COUNTY

Representative:  Lauri Jo Bennett - Founder & CEO

About the Company:   Lauri Jo's is a gourmet food manufacturer - they use a unique story to help sell their product

• They grow, pick, process, jar and label their products by hand
• Family owned, in a town of 800 with products represented  in 42 states and globally
• They shop with local farmers and what was a hobby is now a full blown business with gourmet pepper jellies and jams
• Started with 6 employees, now at 24
• Revenue comes from 42 states, Trinidad, the Bahamas and Canada
• The company has been spotlighted in several instances in recent years as a success story
• Local or state resource involvement:  Colquitt Co. ED Authority RLF, state tourism, AG Center of Innovation

2 ATLANTA LIGHT BULBS, INC. – DEKALB COUNTY

Representative:  Jason Green – Customer Relations Specialist

About the Company:  Atl Light Bulbs is a lighting supply & distribution company – they supply innovative lighting solutions and specialty lighting

• They are diligent in growing customer relationships through creative networking
• Promoting their products to the international market sectors that require specialty lighting
• Their export department has grown 400% in the last 10 years
• They can offer the lowest pricing due to a great roster of quality and innovative manufactures
• Export sales have doubled in the past year with expectations for more increases
• Customers are worldwide:  military & government agencies, research & scientific lighting and special lamps to sterilize water supply in several developing countries
• Local or state resource involvement:  GA Dept of Economic Development

3 RESTAURANT INTERIORS, INC. – PICKENS COUNTY

Representative:  Jeany Wegenstein - President

About the Company:  this company designs, manufacturers, supplies and installs all the materials and components to complete restaurant interiors.

• A single mom returning to America after 17 years and 4 children, started in a 800 s/f barn
• now at 77,000 s/f
• Their project completion time is very competitive as is the price
• They now manufacture their own patented wall panels & aluminum door frames enabling them to reduce costs, invest more back into the business and add more brands
• In the past 12 months, they've 38 people and quadrupled their revenue
• Customers are nationwide, including Burger King
• Communities benefit from lodging and meal expenditures when an installation is in progress
• Company buys American forgoing less expensive imported alternatives
• Local or state resource involvement:  Pickens Co Community ED, GA Dept of Economic Development, GDOL, Chattahoochee Tech, GA Power

 

4 FACTORYMATION – CHEROKEE COUNTY

Representative:  Russ Sanders - President

About the Company:  FactoryMation specializes in automated industrial controls

• They take pride in providing excellent customer service and same day shipments
• They believe in their employees and push for excellence
• Started with 7500 s/f and will soon be at 62,000 s/f and growing 15-20% annually since 2005
• They will have added 40 new jobs within two years' time
• Their business model efficiently serves smaller manufacturers and factories
• They boast over a 96% same day order ship fulfillment rate
• 95% of sales are outside the state
• Local or state resource involvement:  Cherokee Office of Economic Development

5 AZALEA HEALTH INNOVATIONS – LOWNDES COUNTY

Representative:  Douglas Swords, CFO

About the Company:  Azalea Health Innovations is a leading provider of cloud-based health information technology.

• They have a strong customer relations team that works effectively to build and maintain relationships
• They communicate customer needs so that the innovation team can meet them strategically
• They engage Facebook and LinkedIn Ads to keep clients in the loop and attract new customers along with a strong marketing plan
• They host regular webinars and online demos to further educate their clientele
• Started with 4 employees 4.5 years ago – now at 40
• Monthly revenue has increased by 59% in the last year
• Clients are located within the southeast
• Local or state resource involvement:  SBDC Valdosta, Lowndes Co Chamber & Main Street

6 CAFÉ CAMPESINO – SUMTER COUNTY

Representative:  Bill Harris Jr – Co-founder and president

About the Company:  Café Campesino roasts and sells fair trade organic coffee

• It sources coffee through a one-of-a-kind green coffee importing cooperative of roasters
• They connect the consumer to the coffee producer by either bringing the producers to the US or taking customers to the coffee producing countries to learn about the coffee harvesting process
• The Americus coffee house serves as a gathering spot for locals
• Just launched a community garden for locals to grow their own food
• Member: Georgia Organics for 12 years & the peer-reviewed national Fair Trade Federation
• Starting with building a Habitat for Humanity home for a farmer in Guatemala, they saw how little the coffee farmer was making and got inspired to start a Fair Trade organic coffee importing company
• Sales increases are on track at reaching 8% increase in 2013
• Customers are nationwide, plus online sales
• Local or state resource involvement:  GDEcD tourism rep, Dept of Ag, Americus DDA, Chamber

2013 Honorable Mentions

1 INFINITY NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC. – BIBB COUNTY

Representative:    Robert Betzel - President

About the Company:  A Macon-based IT services company whose unique approach is focused on education and not selling;

• They run 10 events a year to provide education on IT issues and how they relate to small  business
• Their super hero 'Infinity Man' helps make IT fun and not so geeky
• They've seen 25% growth year over year
• Local or state resource involvement:  Macon chamber, the economic development team and the Regional Commission

 

2 EDGE SOLUTIONS, LLC – FULTON COUNTY

Representative:  Julie Haley - CEO

About the Company:  They deliver IT solutions that provide a competitive advantage

• They serve the underserved market of small to medium sized companies
• And provide the local face-to-face interaction they may not get elsewhere
• They've seen a 72% increase in revenue from 2011-2012 and have created new jobs
• They offer a paid internship summer program to college students
• Local or state resource involvement:  Metro Atlanta Chamber, N Fulton Chamber, Alpharetta Technology Council, GA SBDC

3 BILINGUAL FAMILIA CONSULTING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL – BRYAN COUNTY

Representative:  Cheyenne Willis-Kozaily - founder

About the Company:  They provide group language classes, language coaching and consulting

• Have a patent pending approach to language learning
• Inspired by her tri-lingual family she started with 1 adult student in 1 class
• Now has 11 classes with over 45 students who are learning Spanish and Arabic – the youngest at 3 years old
• A goal is to create little global citizens who will one day use their language abilities as a highly marketable skill
• Local or state resource involvement:  Bryan County Chamber and state tourism rep

4 PEST CONTROL INSULATION – BANKS COUNTY

Representative:  Bill Turk, CEO

About the Company:   A revolutionary green insulation for new and existing homes & buildings made from recycled paper that incorporates a borate-based pest control into the product.

• TAP – thermal acoustical pest control insulation contains 87% recycled material and is the only Energy Star qualified pest control product on the market today
• Started as a special bedding for the poultry industry which led to their first patented product
• They then had to sell it to pest control companies and now train thousands of customers on how to propose, sell and install this unique and innovative product
• Sales have increased 15-30% every year since 2006 and are currently tracking 20% growth for 2013
• They continue to hire as they grow
• Local or state resource involvement:  GA SBDC