Russell Cellular wins SBA award

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Jeff Russell, founder of Springfield-based Russell Cellular, has been named Missouri's 2002 Small Business Person of the Year. The U.S. Small Business Administration gave the honor. |ret||ret||tab|

Russell will compete against the winners in other states for the National Small Business Person of the Year Award, which will be announced this week in Washington, D.C., as part of national Small Busi-ness Week festivities. |ret||ret||tab|

Russell founded his company in 1993. Russell Cellular now has 27 stores, with five or six more to open in May, and a total of 44 employees.|ret||ret||tab|

Russell began his company, an Alltel authorized agent, as its sole sales representative, working from the trunk of his Dodge Omni. He built his customer base by making sales calls in small towns. His fear of cold calls encouraged his development of a strong referral program with his first customers farmers and small-business owners.|ret||ret||tab|

The statewide award, Russell said, is "great recognition" for his company, its managers and for Alltel.|ret||ret||tab|

Russell Cellular was nominated for the regional SBA Small Business Person of the Year Award by Liberty Bank. After winning the regional competition for the Kansas City District, Russell Cellular squared off against the winner for the St. Louis Region, ultimately being chosen for the statewide honor.|ret||ret||tab|

In 1999, Russell received the SBA's Young Entrepreneur Award for the Kansas City District. In 2000, his company was a semifinalist for the 2000 W. Curtis Strube Small Business of the Year Award an award for which the company this year is a finalist. The W. Curtis Strube Small Business of the Year Award is presented by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce; a profile of Russell Cellular is found on page 20.|ret||ret||tab|

Also in 2000, Russell was a semifinalist for the Springfield Business Journal's Economic Impact Awards. In 2001, he received SBJ's 40 Under 40 Award. |ret||ret||tab|

According James Combs, manager of the SBA's branch office in Springfield, this is the third time a statewide winner has been selected from this area. In 1992, Robert Carter of Webco Engineering received the award; David Zapatka of Z-Tech Company received it in 1994. |ret||ret||tab|

Combs said the Springfield branch office is proud to have Russell and his company recognized with the statewide Small Business Person of the Year Award. He added that Russell "exemplifies the true entrepreneurial spirit of small-business owners and stands out above the thousands of other small businesses located in the state of Missouri." [[In-content Ad]]