Entries by Heather Price

Lowe Mill small business brings Texas flavor to Rocket City

A slice of Texas has found its way to the Huntsville culinary scene at Kar’s Char Texas-Style BBQ at Lowe Mill. Thomas Langford and James Emery opened the restaurant one year ago, combining a passion for authentic Texas barbecue with delicious traditional Southern recipes. Thomas Langford’s journey to becoming a barbecue pitmaster started at a […]

Sit Down With Success: A conversation with Victor Burruss of Allied Digital Printing

Allied Photocopy, now known as Allied Digital Printing, was founded in 1970 by the late Jim Burruss. The business originally focused on selling and repairing copier machines. Jim’s son Victor Burruss recalls traveling across Alabama with his father, helping to sell machines and supplies. The turning point for Allied came when a friend of Jim’s […]

Small Biz Spotlight: Talking local business and good brews with Straight to Ale Brewery

The Huntsville craft beer scene wouldn’t be what it is today without Straight to Ale brewery and the group of friends who started it. As the second oldest craft brewery in Alabama, Straight to Ale’s origins are tied to Free the Hops, a grassroots lobbying organization that led the charge for changing Alabama’s beer laws. […]

Remembering Huntsville technology business leader Stephen “Steve” Foster Thornton

Stephen “Steve” Foster Thornton, passed away on May 5, 2024, at the age of 84, leaving behind a legacy of innovation and leadership. Best known for leading Cybex Corporation for more than 20 years as President and CEO, Thornton’s early career as an electrical engineer saw him make contributions during the Vietnam War and to […]

Small Business Spotlight: A Conversation with the Church Street Family

What began as a single wine shop, born out of a desire to recreate the ambiance of a California wine bar, has grown into a collection of nine distinctive restaurants and bars. Husband and wife team Matt Mell and Stephanie Kennedy-Mell are the creative culinary geniuses behind the Church Street Family restaurants and bars, which […]

Sit Down With Success: A Conversation with Karen and David Smith of Royal Funeral Home

For over a century, Royal Funeral Home has been a pillar of support for grieving families, particularly in the black community. Through four generations, the owners have dedicated themselves to providing the utmost care and compassion to those experiencing the loss of a loved one, and at a time when equitable access to services was […]

Small Business Spotlight: Talking North Alabama’s restaurant industry with Main Street Cafe

A career as a restaurateur isn’t exactly what Tammy Hall had planned for herself. She pursued a career in kinesiology and health. But life takes you where it takes you, she said, and she and her husband John Hall have now owned and operated not one, not two, but three restaurants and love it! “If […]

Small Business Spotlight: Talking Huntsville history and iconic coffee with The Kaffeeklatsch

Everything about The Kaffeeklatsch is iconic to Huntsville, from its German name – a nod to the German rocket scientists who came here in the 1960s – to its nearly 50 year history in the historic Terry Hutchens building in downtown. The business has grown up with Huntsville, so to speak, experiencing its own changes […]

Sit Down With Success: A Conversation with Annie Saylor of SimTech

In 1983 Annie Saylor and five of her colleagues founded SimTech, a small business focused on high-tech defense contracts. Originally from eastern Kentucky, Saylor came to Huntsville to teach mathematics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. However, after just two years, she transitioned into the defense industry and never looked back. While initially maintaining […]