Four One Seven wins chamber’s Small Business Award

The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce this afternoon announced Four One Seven as the recipient of the 2025 W. Curtis Strube Small Business Award.

Started in 1998 and owned by Logan Aguirre since 2020, the multimedia publishing company, which rebranded last year from 417 Magazine, was given the award during a ceremony at the O’Reilly Family Event Center on the campus of Drury University, according to a news release. The company was a finalist for the annual award last year, as well as in 2006 and 2013.

"I want to thank the chamber for creating space for small businesses," Aguirre said when accepting the award. "We’re lucky here in 417-land – a town built on entrepreneurs."

Aguirre took over ownership of the company after purchasing it from her parents, Gary and Joan Whitaker, who had owned the publication since 2001 under Whitaker Publishing LLC. The company operates at 2111 S. Eastgate Ave. Aguirre, who began working for the publication in 2006, recently told Springfield Business Journal it doesn’t feel like nearly five years has passed since she became owner.

“By the time the papers were signed, nothing felt any different,” said Aguirre, who was president of the company at the time of the ownership change. “I was running it for (my parents) for several years while they were semiretired. It had really gotten to the point where they had no day-to-day responsibility. They were really just a sounding board, and I would meet with them and just kind of get their advice and take on things.”

Aside from its flagship brands of 417 Magazine and Biz 417, the company’s platforms include websites, e-newsletters, community events and a custom publishing division, which creates magazines and content for local businesses and organizations such as Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield, Prime Inc., Russell Cellular Inc. and the local chamber.

“Four One Seven exemplifies the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation that drives our local economy,” chamber President and CEO Matt Morrow said in the release. “Their commitment to fostering connections and elevating quality of life in Springfield is truly commendable.”

According to chamber officials, roughly 360 people attended the annual award presentation, which also included a keynote speech from Shawn Askinosie, founder and CEO of Askinosie Chocolate LLC.

Other finalists for the award were as follows:
• Advanced Car Care Center LLC, a full-service import automobile repair business owned by Megan and Chip Broemmer
• Kids Inn Child Care Center LLC, a company founded by Christina Ford with a registration list in excess of 1,000 children.
• Kinetic Design and Development LLC, an architecture firm led by partners Abbye Bobbett, Griffin Bobbett and Adam Kreher that has grown to nearly 50 employees since its 2022 founding
• Maxon Fine Jewelry, a 1972-founded business owned by Jessica Harmison-Olson and her husband Ryan Olson.

The finalists are selected based on written applications reviewed by an independent panel of judges comprising previous recipients, local business representatives 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. The Small Business Award is given annually in his honor.