The Entrepreneur Council of Frederick County plans to present its annual awards June 4, with 22 people nominated or named for their achievements as entrepreneurs.
“The businesses come from many different types of industries. It is a very diverse group,” said Edward Robinson, a member of the council.
Revenue growth has been solid among the nominees, Robinson said, with larger companies keeping pace or exceeding smaller businesses.
“Hiring growth has not kept pace with revenue growth as companies are being much more careful about adding additional staff expenses,” Robinson said. Many nominees have both full- and part-time employees.
Business liquidity is improving but still pretty tight, especially with smaller companies, Robinson said.
Don Linton, founding principal of Linton, Shafer, Warfield & Garrett, an accounting firm, has already been named Master Entrepreneur for the success of his firm and being a role model to other businesses for community services and leadership.
“Animal Referral & Emergency, launched in 2010, was so impressive, we created a new award for them, Fast Growth Start-Up Success Story,” Robinson said. The business is owned by veterinarians Stephanie Phillips and Kelly Gellasch.
Nominees in other categories:
Youth Entrepreneur: Josh Hough, Big Lawn Shark; Wyatt Farmer, Maryland Bio-Fuels LLC.
Large Established: TNT Services Group, Don Tarleton; Allen H. Mitchell Construction, Allen H. Mitchell; South Mountain Creamery, Randy and Karen Sowers.
Medium Established: Connie Phillips Insurance, Connie Phillips; Stauffer Funeral Home, Doug Stauffer; Lancaster Craftsmen Builders, Mark Lancaster.
Small Established: Hometown Harvest, Tony Brusco; Frederick Indoor Sports Center, Tony Checchia; Top Quality Janitorial Services, Jason Lee.
Small Emerging: Re/Max Results, Sandy Fouche; The Temple, a Paul Mitchell School, Sharon and Charles Riser; Mid-Atlantic Chiropractic Center, Amir Rashidian.
Start-Up: Key Financial Group, Jason Jennings; Smooch Studio, Nicole and Kendra Knight.
The categories are based on years in business, number of employees and annual gross revenue.
The keynote speaker at the awards presentation will be Heidi Gerding, president and CEO of HeiTech Services, which provides management consulting and information technology services to the federal government. Gerding is a former naval officer and worked for two small-business federal contractors in executive positions before launching her own firm in 1999.
