I’ll never think of entrepreneurs in the same way. At least not Jeff Russell.
Russell and his Russell Cellular crew took the stage to receive Springfield Business Journal’s honor as the fastest growing company in the Ozarks.
After all the tension and hoopla surrounding the countdown from No. 12 to No. 1, Russell accepted the award with this:
“It was a natural progression from poultry manure to entrepreneur.”
It’s funny but true. The Russell story begins on an Arkansas turkey farm, rolls right into selling cell phones out of the trunk of his car and on to producing nearly $45 million in annual revenues as a Verizon agent.
Natural? Far be it. Entrepreneurial? Yes, with a vengeance. And that’s hometown proof that multimillion-dollar entrepreneurs can literally start from anywhere.
Russell took the quote of the night during SBJ’s seventh annual Dynamic Dozen Awards on March 4. But he wasn’t alone in the quotable and notable categories. So in this issue where we give a coverage nod to area entrepreneurs and innovators (pages 9–18), here are the top tidbits – and some humor – from the Dynamic Dozen acceptance speeches by the area’s top entrepreneurs.
• Allied Roofing’s Clint Tackitt thanked Rita, Wilma and Katrina for the recent repair jobs.
• Electronic Check Services rose to become the second-fastest growing company without loans – only using internal growth to reach into 48 states.
• ECS also operates without contracts – just handshake agreements with its retailer customers; President Derron Winfrey stayed true to that form, shaking hands with most of Russell Cellular’s 22 representatives after the top announcement was made.
• No. 3 company MaMa Jean’s Natural Market has built a young and energetic staff, and the owners listen and enact their ideas; after the acceptance speech, one of the young employees took the microphone and thanked owners Susie Farbin and Diana Hicks for being responsive.
• CoxHealth has $400 million in employee salaries and benefits.
• TLC’s Coryell sons provided forward thinking to push the longtime apartment developer into next-generation services: an iPhone app and Wi-Fi-equipped shuttle transportation to select colleges.
Joplin D12SBJ Publishing’s younger publication, Joplin Tri-State Business Journal (now publishing Vol. 5 No.1), also held its Dynamic Dozen event this month.
Here’s what the award-winners had to say while accepting the honors March 18 at the historic Ramsey Building in downtown Joplin.
• No. 6 Freeman Health System practices open books through its Bright Ideas program that requires employees to submit their best idea each year; the result from the 4,000 ideas submitted since launching in July 2008 is a savings of $2.2 million.
• Sean James of No. 5 Egora Group, aka Grillstuff.com, said he’s glad the deep challenges are behind and he’s looking forward to what’s ahead; you should have seen the heads nod, as that became the theme of the night.
• No. 4 Choice Marketing gets the award for the most hands on deck: 21 employees and guests supported the company, which days later was named a finalist for Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Award. “It’s been a good week,” owner Karen Plott told JTBJ Editor Chris Roberts last week.
• No. 1 Branco Enterprises three years ago turned a “nasty word” – profitability – into its motto for a successful run when the construction business was on difficult times. Today’s estimated unemployment rate in construction: 27 percent, said Branco President John Branham.
• The night wasn’t without a little friendly trash talk as Kevin Caviness, CEO of No. 2 company Vintage Stock, told Branham he’d see him back at the podium next year – though the roles would be reversed.
Advice from Pandora.comThis month, I was reminded that entrepreneurs are fun to hang with, they’re invigorating and they make things happen in business – which keeps Springfield Business Journal reporters busy.
Reading an article in Wall Street Journal’s March magazine, WSJ., I learned the next crop of American entrepreneurs has a next-generation mindset.
For a taste, here’s 44-year-old Pandora.com creator Tim Westergren:
“It’s very rare to have the kind of Facebook trajectory, where you just blow out of the gates from Day 1,” he told the magazine. “To be successful as an entrepreneur, you need to be humble enough to know what you don’t know. And to know how other people can help you, so that you’re generous in your involvement and rewarding of other people.”
Even if you’re not an entrepreneur, that’s just good advice.
Springfield Business Journal Editor Eric Olson can be reached at eolson@sbj.net.
