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SMALL BUSINESS WEEK
2003
Small businesses
are an integral part of the United States’ economy, generating
about half of the gross domestic product and creating the majority
of new jobs.
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Small Business
Week of Eastern Missouri Inc., hosts a week-long series of events
honoring small business owners and the organizations that support
entrepreneurship. Small Business Week was May 5-9 and activities
included networking events, seminars and award ceremonies. The RCGA
has sponsored Small Business Week since 1985.
Each year the President of the United States designates one week
as Small Business Week, which gives our nation the opportunity to
celebrate the substantial achievements being made by small business
owners. More than half of all Americans work for one or more of
the country’s 25 million small businesses. These small businesses
generate about half of the nation’s gross domestic product and create
the majority of new jobs.
Phyllis Weiss, president of Image Works Public Relations and the
2003 chair of the Small Business Week, believes that, “Small Business
Week is an opportunity for the entire community to come together
to recognize the individuals who make St. Louis an outstanding place
for small businesses to thrive. It is also a time for us to rededicate
our efforts to support entrepreneurs and their enterprises.”
Featured on the next few pages are the recipients of the Small Business
Week awards, as well as a brief description of their achievements—both
business and civic endeavors.
2003 St. Louis Small Business Week Winners
Missouri
Small Business Person of the Year
Joe Helmsing
president,
Craftsmen Industries Inc.
Joe Helmsing, the President of Craftsmen Industries, has survived
his share of business challenges and seen his small business grow
into a nationally recognized company. Joe began working with trailers
at Southwest Truck Body in 1968 during his third year at Saint Louis
University where he also earned his MBA in 1972.
By 1977 Joe and his brother, Bob, purchased Lawrence Canvas, a company
with five employees that steadily grew to more than 50. Three years
later the brothers purchased Foremost Manufacturing and doubled
employees and sales within one year. A SBA 503 loan was crucial
in purchasing the repair division of Southwest Truck Body Company.
During deregulation of the trucking industry, the name was changed
to Craftsmen Industries. It grew so rapidly in the early months,
the brothers sold Foremost to concentrate on the new business. By
the late 1980s, the brothers separated the businesses with Bob taking
control of Lawrence Canvas and Joe controlling Craftsmen Industries.
Good years followed bad years, but Joe believed in his company.
Without fully realizing it, the company had become one of the early
experts in the then unknown world of mobile marketing. The facilities
were relocated to St. Charles allowing expansion and new opportunities.
Hard work, common sense and the realization that Craftsmen Industries
was building a solid reputation, saw the business adding services
in this growing market. Between the years 2000 and 2002, fiberglass
and graphics departments were added as well as an increase in employees
of more than 200. This led to a new facility in St. Charles where
Joe leads his company towards a bright future. His sons Mark and
Louis along with his wife, Penny, all work in the company.
2003 Hall of Fame Inductee
Dr. Terry L. Brewer
president
Brewer Science Inc.
Brewer Science Inc. (BSI), founded in 1981 by Dr. Terry L. Brewer,
is a leading supplier of specialty chemicals and instruments into
global micro- and opto-electronics industries. Dr. Brewer developed
and commercialized the first organic anti-reflective coatings (ARCs)
used in the manufacturing of microprocessors, memory, logic, and
application-specific microchips. ARCs absorb the incident light
used in the lithography process to define and control features on
microchips. The technologies of Brewer Science can be found in defense-related
and commercial products such as computers, cameras, video recorders,
cellular phones, medical instrumentation, telecommunications equipment,
automobiles, games, and flight instrument displays on military and
commercial aircraft, and NASA’s space shuttle.
Since 1984, BSI has received more than 40 SBA SBIR awards from more
than seven different SBIR agencies. Brewer has strategically used
SBIR funding to develop commercial products. The technical innovations
resulting from SBIR programs have positioned BSI as a global technology
leader, and BSI has a demonstrated track record of turning SBIR-funded
research into successful commercial products. SBIR awards have funded
g-line, i-line, deep ultra-violet, and 193-nm ARC commercial products
currently on the market. For every dollar invested by the SBIR program
in Brewer product research and development, the return on investment
has been $30 in product sales. To date, BSI has been issued 40 U.S.
patents, and has another 70 U.S. and international patents in process.
BSI is rapidly growing. In the last five years the company has experienced
113 percent growth in sales, 65 percent growth in profits, and 115
percent growth in the number of employees.
BSI is a company ‘Of the People, For the Customer, and By the Technology.’
Brewer Science is an active member of the Rolla, Mo. business community
and provides a large number of highly skilled technical job opportunities
in central Missouri. BSI started with three employees in 1981; today
more than 287 employees are based in seven U.S. locations, with
additional staff located in the United Kingdom and China. One of
our core values is to support the Rolla community; BSI’s ‘We Care
Committee’ allows its employees to be personally and financially
supportive of more than 40 organizations and activities in the local
community.
National Entrepreneurial Success
Himanshu Bhatia
CEO, Rose International
In 1993, Himanshu Bhatia and her husband, Gulab, founded Rose International
in St. Louis, Mo. Since then, Rose has grown from a local, five-employee
company to a nationwide firm employing nearly 300 people. Ms. Bhatia
attributes her firm’s success to two very basic principles—a well-developed
work ethic throughout the company, and a very practical, results-oriented
approach in addressing customer issues.
Ms. Bhatia’s vision of what she wanted her company to become has
turned into reality with Rose becoming a more complete IT services
firm rather than simply a technology staffing firm. Since its inception,
Rose has become one of the country’s fastest-growing technology
companies, ranking in the Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 500
and St. Louis Regional Top 50 Technology Awards for the past five
years. The company has also ranked twice on the Inc. 500. In addition,
Ms. Bhatia was named the SBA Small Business Person of the Year in
2001 for the State of Missouri.
Rose International has achieved preferred vendor status with several
of its clients, including Ameren, ChevronTexaco, SBC, Maritz and
Ameritech. On the government side, Rose also won prime vendor status
in five out of seven service areas on the highly competitive State
of Missouri Statewide IT Contract in 2002, beating out many larger
companies for the contract.
Ms. Bhatia finds time to give back to the community by serving in
several other capacities. Some of them include: being a mentor for
Women in Technology International (WITI); serving on the MIS Advisory
Board and MIS Mentoring Program at the University of Missouri, St.
Louis; and volunteering as a SBA Coach to other small business owners.
St. Louis District Financial Services Advocate
Richard Alonza Smith
owner, Richard Smith's Tax Service
Richard Smith entered Tax Preparation in 1974 as a part-time employee
for H&R Block, where he gained experience as a tax preparer. While
there, he became an Enrolled Agent with the IRS enabling him to
represent clients before the IRS Tax Court. Richard ventured out
on his own, opening two offices, one in Black Jack, Mo., and one
in St. Louis. During this period, he realized the need for financial
planning in his business and secured his series six and series seven
licenses and became a Registered Representative for H.D. Vest Financial
Services.
Presently, he has two offices, one in Hazelwood and one in the Victor
Roberts building in St. Louis, also commonly known as the Old Sears
Building. He offers state-of-the-art business and personal tax preparation
and financial services through Allianz Life Insurance Company of
North America. His client base exceeds 3,000, which makes his business
one of the largest independently owned tax offices in the area employing
a staff of two to eight employees. He also conducts his own Tax
Preparation School in the fall.
Richard received a Bachelor’s of Science in Industrial Technology
from Florida International University in 1974 and worked for 25
years as an Industrial Engineer for McDonnell Douglas.
St. Louis District Minority Small Business Advocate
Lynn C. Steele
director of economic Development,
Grace Hill Business Center
Lynn Steele has spent more than 25 years being an advocate for economic
and business development in minority communities. This has been
both a professional and personal commitment that has provided him
with valuable knowledge and expertise in building economic capacity
for African Americans.
He is also involved in the RCGA Faith Based Community Economic Development
initiative to help enhance faith-based organizations with additional
resources.
During his tenure with the Urban League in Chicago and St. Louis,
he developed many innovative programs for minorities that fostered
employment, education and business opportunities. He developed and
organized the Council of College Attendance comprised of educators
and community leaders in a non-traditional method of recruitment
for minority students interested in attending college. The work
of this council has been featured on the national news and as the
subject of numerous articles.
As the first director for a business development organization (BDO)
in the city of Pittsburgh, Pa., Steele was responsible for developing
broad-based partnerships that include banks, private corporations
and civic organizations, which focused on minority business development.
Steele’s vast experience includes administering federal programs,
owning his own flooring company and developing business projects.
Steele says the time he spends providing one-on-one counseling is
the most gratifying of all the time he spends in minority business
development. Over the years, he has received numerous notes, letter
and cards thanking him. Many of the minority businesses that he
has supported would testify to the fact the Steele is indeed a true
Minority Business Advocate.
St. Louis District Small Business Exporter
J. Stephen Peirce Jr.
president, RIBUS Inc.
J. Stephen Peirce Jr. (Steve) founded RIBUS Inc. in 1992 with his
father Jim Peirce Sr. and Neal Hammond as a manufacturing and marketing
company to produce unique natural food ingredients based on revolutionary
technology. Upon his father’s death, Peirce became President of
RIBUS Inc. His direction led the company on an expansion drive to
meet the increasing demand, the development of cutting-edge products,
and new markets. Since the company’s start, it has been issued five
US patents and has numerous US and international patents pending.
Since 1997, Peirce has taken the company from zero international
sales to more than $475,000 (or 50 percent) of the international
sales in fiscal year ending in July 2002. He has demonstrated remarkable
leadership, vision and entrepreneurism to take his company from
a non-entity in the international marketplace to a recognized entity
in the foreign marketplace. His ability to respond to customer needs
is evident in his new innovative processes, procedures, and products
that have changed how the cereal, snack, and pasta manufacturing
industries do business.
As a result of RIBUS’ success, Peirce has created 13 new full-time
jobs in the last two years. The creation of these jobs has had a
positive impact on the local community’s economy. The jobs have
been created at his subcontract production facility, which is in
a very rural and economically depressed area. The company’s growth
has also had the multiplier effect on its suppliers and customers.
At present, even considering the international situation, the company
is trying to finalize contracts with distributors in the Middle
East, newly industrialized countries in Central Europe, and South
America.
National Research Advocate
Dr. Robert H. Brockhaus Sr.
director, Jefferson Smurfit Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
Saint Louis University
This is the first time that the SBA has had the Research Advocate
Award therefore all universities and the private sector researchers
from throughout the country were eligible for consideration. Dr.
Brockhaus holds the Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship
at Saint Louis University, where he is the Director of the internationally
acclaimed Jefferson Smurfit Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and
received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the School of Business
Alumni Association. Recently, the SLU entrepreneurship program was
ranked third in the country by other program directors.
He previously has served as the Schoen Professor of Entrepreneurship
at Baylor University, the McAninch Chair of Entrepre-neurship at
Kansas State University, the Distinguished Visiting Professor of
Entrepre-neurship at Southern Cross University in Australia, the
Extraordinary Professor of Entrepreneurship at Potchefstroomse University
in South Africa and as a Fulbright Fellow to New Zealand. He has
been an invited speaker in more than 20 countries.
He and his wife, Dr. Joyce Brockhaus, through the Brockhaus Group,
provide consulting services to family-owned businesses that have
concerns related to succession, ownership transfer and operational
issues such as compensation, performance evaluation, role clarity,
etc.
Dr. Robert Brockhaus’ research, which has been published in more
than 80 academic journals and proceedings and 12 books is widely
cited. Recently one of his articles was selected as one of the most
important 100 entrepreneurship articles ever published in the world.
In 1987, he established the Gateway Entrepreneurship Research Conferences
series, which has allowed leading researchers to discuss the research
needed to assist small and entrepreneurial businesses. He has served
as the national or international president or chairperson of the
major academic entrepreneurship organizations. His research contributions
and leadership in academic entrepreneurship has led to Dr. Brockhaus
being named a “Fellow” of five academic entrepreneurship societies—the
only person so honored. He also is listed in Who’s Who in the
World, in America, in Finance and Industry, and in American
Education.
Locally, Dr. Brockhaus served as Chairperson of last year’s St.
Louis Small Business Week, was a Missouri delegate to the last two
White House Conferences on Small Business and established the Missouri
Small Business Development Center program. A third term Alderman
in Sunset Hills and past president of his church congregation, he
has been honored as a Lindbergh Leader by the Lindbergh School District
and has received the Award of Merit from the Gravois Trail Boy Scout
District—both awards are the highest recognition of these organizations.
Region VII Small Business Journalist
Paul L. Riat
president
Business News Update Inc.
Wearing the hats of both president and reporter at Business News
Update, Paul Riat has the opportunity to increase public understanding
of the importance of small business contributions to the economy
practically every day.
In addition to a continuous stream of daily news stories highlighting
small business efforts, Riat goes out into the community to meet
people who are involved in the regional business community. Riat
is regularly called upon to speak before professional associations.
He has spoken to the St. Louis chapter of the Public Relations Society
of America as well as the St. Louis chapter of the Society of Competitive
Intelligence Professional. He has been called upon to speak to students
at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and DeSmet Jesuit
High School, in both cases drawing upon his experiences as a journalist
covering small business.
In the community, Riat is both a volunteer middle-school teacher
and an unpaid consultant to a college club. He is in his fourth
semester of teaching a computer class at Marian Middle School in
the city of St. Louis. MMS is a new parochial school for inner city
girls who have been identified as “at risk.” In the class, guest
speakers from women in Technology show the girls that women can
work in technology—and even start their own businesses. Riat organized
Business News Update readers who donated more than 30 computers
and a truckload of equipment to the project.
Riat began serving as an unpaid consultant to the journalism club
of East Central College in Union, Mo., after state budget cuts prompted
the school to dissolve its journalism program. He now mentors the
young journalists in their efforts to learn good reporting skills
and is working with the school to migrate their newspaper to an
online form in order to protect it from further budget cuts.
St. Louis District Women in Business Advocate
Karen Mckay
owner
Hair Benders
Karen McKay, throughout her career, has worked tirelessly to empower
women and help women gain the confidence to become business owners.
Through her popular salon, Hair Benders, McKay provides a setting
and business amenities for women entrepreneurs of all ages and ethnicities
seeking to develop their own clientele and gain confidence and business
skills to start their own businesses.
In her position as a local political leader, McKay has unfailingly
spoken up for small business owners, particularly those owned by
women. McKay serves on the economic development committee for North
County Inc., a group dedicated to promoting and stimulating business
growth in the Florissant/North St. Louis County Region through legislative
or other necessary means. McKay advocates for small businesses and
women’s issues in her capacity as Florissant City Council Woman,
Ward 7 in addition to serving as a member of the Florissant Valley
Chamber of Commerce and Florissant Rotary Club.
As an elected board member of the Soroptomists International of
North St. Louis County, she and other women community leaders dedicate
their time to advancing the economic and social development of women
in the community.
McKay also participates in an official program offered by the Missouri
State Board of Cosmetology, the “Licensed Apprentice Supervisor”
program. As such, she volunteers as a supervisor, mentor, and teacher
to individuals placed in her hair salon for training and certification
hours. It is clear that McKay has become a prominent community role
model to other women who may want to someday become what she is:
a community leader, a person with no fear of challenges or drawbacks,
and unfailingly irrepressibly positive person with a can-do attitude.
St. Louis District Home-Based Business Advocate
Eloise Chandler
CEO, The Networking Group
The Networking Group is one of the fastest growing organizations
in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. It was originally formed to
help small businesses in an effort to confront the rising cost of
advertising and promotions by sponsoring diverse and unique opportunities
of entrepreneurship. Eloise Chandler works to attract other business
owners to help, encourage, provide networking, and give low-cost
expanding possibilities of how their businesses can prosper.
The Networking Group provides entrepreneurs with various opportunities
of customized advertising—radio, Internet, newspapers, television,
mailing lists, etc. One-on-one consulting sessions are conducted
to understand the needs and directions of the home-based or small
business and a plan of action is suggested to help them reach their
dreams. Other services offered are: assistance with business plans;
referrals for services and products; and a monthly publication in
the metro area to better advertise those businesses.
It has been featured in print media such as the St. Louis Post
Dispatch, Gospel Gazette, Suburban Journals, and
Takewings Communications as well as radio and television and cable
stations. As a home-based business owner, Chandler understands the
needs of other home-based businesses and has developed a format
for their promotion.
St. Louis District Small Business Lawyer
Christopher G. Kelleher
president, The Law Firm for Businesses
Chris Kelleher, founder and president of The Law Firm for Businesses,
PC, has been helping small businesses and their owners for more
than 20 years as an attorney, bringing a unique blend of practical
advice, personalized service and state-of-the-art skills to the
owner-operated and family-owned businesses that he represents.
Kelleher has helped establish and serves as the general counsel
for the Eastern Missouri Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders
(EMAGGL) that works closely with the SBA and the banking community
to educate business owners and the public about the benefits of
SBA loan programs for small businesses.
Kelleher has advanced the cause of small businesses by speaking
to a wide range of groups including the Entrepreneurial Studies
Program at Saint Louis University and the National Association of
Women Business Owners (NAWBO). His “plain English” articles written
for businesses and business owners have been printed in a wide variety
of publications. At the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis
University, Kelleher serves as a mentor in the MBA Executive Mentoring
Program and is a director of the School’s Alumni Advisory Board.
Outside of his activities related to small business, Kelleher serves
as a board member and chair of the development committee of Catholic
Community Services.
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