5 in running for chamber's annual Small Business Award

Five finalists are in the running for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce's W. Curtis Strube Small Business Award.

The finalists, which range in industry from automotive repair and child care to architecture, jewelry and publishing, are scheduled to be honored at an event at the O'Reilly Family Event Center May 28, when a winner will be unveiled, according to a news release.

The finalists are as follows:
• 417 Magazine, a lifestyle and business publication owned by Logan Aguirre and founded by her parents, Joan and Gary Whitaker
• Advanced Car Care Center, a full-service import auto repair shop founded in 2015 by Chip and Megan Broemmer
• Kids Inn Child Care Center, a drop-in facility for kids that recently announced an expansion to Lenexa, Kansas
• Kinetic Design and Development LLC, a 49-employee architecture firm led by Adam Kreher, Abbye Bobbett and Griffin Bobbett
• Maxon Fine Jewelry, a 1972-founded jewelry store owned by Jessica Harmison-Olson and Ryan Olson

Representatives of the companies are slated to participate in a May 8 panel discussion at the chamber's Good Morning, Springfield! event. The May 28 Small Business Award event will feature a keynote address from Askinosie Chocolate founder Shawn Askinosie.

Dake Wells Architecture Inc. was the 2024 winner of the Small Business Award.

Honorees are selected based on written applications reviewed by an independent panel of judges comprising previous recipients, local business experts and volunteers of the chamber’s Small Business Council.

The council was founded by the late Curtis Strube, a former director at Drury University’s Breech School of Business Administration.