Chamber celebrates small business with 11th annual award

For the 11th year, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce is paying tribute to small businesses by selecting one as the W. Curtis Strube Small Business of the Year.

Sonja Chasteen, business assistance manager for the chamber, said the award is named for the late Curt Strube, who was director of Drury University's Breech School of Business. Chasteen said Strube also was an advocate of small business, and he was the charter leader of the chamber's Small Business Council, which is still in existence.

"It's actually probably one of the more active committees within the chamber," Chasteen said.

To be eligible for the award, nominated companies must have fewer than 50 employees, and they must be members of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

Other factors that figure into selection for the award are company history, business or management philosophy, response to challenges, innovative products and services, and community-oriented contributions.

This year, Chasteen said, there were 31 nominees, which were pared down to 11 semifinalists and five finalists. (Finalist profiles start on Page 18).

"The award and the scope of the award have certainly grown over the years. I don't know the exact numbers but I know that it's grown," Chasteen said. She noted, though, that for the past two or three years, the number of nominees has been fairly consistent.

Winners are selected by a panel of five judges.

Three of the judges are representatives from the winning companies for the three previous years. For the 2003 award, the representative judges come from Environmental Works, Carnahan-White and Aire-Master of America. The other two judges come from local colleges and universities, which are determined by a rotating schedule, Chasteen said.

Springfield and southwest Missouri are excellent places for small businesses, Chasteen said, for the same reason that the areas are beneficial to any size of businesses.

"All of the different characteristics of the community that come together to make it a desirable place: The diverse economy, low cost of living, low cost of doing business, great education system, great quality of life, lots of recreation," Chasteen said. "The things that appeal to an individual when they're looking for a place to live also appeal to businesspeople when they're looking for a place to start or grow a business, because they're going to have to live here too, and so are their employees."