Chamber announces small-business award finalists

The award, to be presented by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce at a May 3 luncheon, is named for Dr. W. Curtis Strube, the late director of the Breech School of Business at Drury University and the creator of the chamber’s Small Business Advisory Council.

The finalists: Amberg Entertainment, also a finalist in 2004; 417 Magazine; the Plainview Road location of Family Pharmacy; PaperWise, also a finalist in 2005; and Springfield Office Supply.

Anyone can nominate a company for the award, but companies must be members of the chamber in good standing and have 50 or fewer employees.

Jennifer Johnson, economic development coordinator for the chamber, said a five-member panel judges each company in five areas: company history, business or management philosophy, response to challenges, innovations and community-oriented contributions.

Though only one company wins the award each year, Johnson said the goal is not to single out individual companies.

“Part of the goal of the event is to honor small business achievement and recognize how important it is to our economy, so we recognize all the top five finalists,” Johnson said.

See SBJ’s May 1 issue for more on the Small Business of the Year Award and 2006 Small Business Week.