Local Business Leaders Honored During National Small Business Week

Small business forms the lifeblood of the Huntsville area community, and in recognition of that, the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce commemorated National Small Business Week with an event held Tuesday in the Chamber atrium. 

Chamber Vice President of Small Business Ashley Engels-Ross kicked off the event, which recognized the importance of small businesses to the local economy and beyond. 

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle began by presenting a proclamation from the City of Huntsville. “It talks a lot about the importance of small business to our community. Small business is the backbone of our community, and we’re having a Small Business Week 52 weeks out of the year because that’s what drives our economy and drives our community and makes for success.” 

“They’re the people that hire your next door neighbor. Small businesses are the companies that invest in our community, they invest in bricks and mortar. And they do things that make us a very special place, so I am very proud today to have the proclamation where we name May 1 through May 7 Small Business Week,” Battle stated. 

Madison Mayor Paul Finley also presented a proclamation from the City of Madison, stating that his city’s Small Business Week runs from May 2 through 6. Finley recalled a conversation with his mother concerning his love of old jukeboxes. 

“The reason I think I do is because my parents owned an ice cream parlor when we lived in the suburbs of St. Louis for three years, and it was when I was a teenager. I used to go [there] with her at lunch…at that time, she’d give me a dollar and I’d get to play ten plays on the jukebox,” he said. 

Finley’s mother told him she gave him that dollar to put some energy into the start of the day, because as a small business they needed it. “I can tell you right now, in this community, because of our small businesses and the energy that they bring, we are extremely successful and we’ll continue to do so.” 

“Our Chamber of Commerce in Huntsville and Madison, in all facets that we have, are the ones that promote small businesses and make sure they’re able to tie that together with the events that happen in our city,” Finley concluded. 

Following the mayors’ statements, U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) Alabama District Office Director Thomas Todt accepted the mayoral proclamations on behalf of the 408,000 small businesses in Alabama. 

“The theme this year is ‘Building a Stronger America Through Entrepreneurship,’ Todt said. “You make us what we are in our community of communities–the big guys are great, they’re really awesome and wonderful, but we need the small guys to fill in all around us. That’s what small business does, it’s what we do.”

Todt noted that the SBA uses “force multipliers” to maximize its impact, working through chambers of commerce and elected officials. “We work through chambers to help magnify and get our word out. We have great resource partners through the Small Business Development Centers and Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, and a lot of lending partners and a lot of other folks that work together to provide synergy to help small businesses.” 

Alabama SBA Deputy District Director L.D. Ralph then presented the Directors’ Award to Signalink CEO and co-founder Alice Lessmann, noting that Lessmann and her spouse began the company in 2005 with her ultimately becoming CEO in 2016. 

Located at 1208 Slaughter Road in Madison, Signalink holds a Top-Secret Security Clearance and offers engineering, technical, logistical, and programmatic support to the aerospace and defense communities. 

“The company is a certified woman-owned, veteran-owned, and minority-owned small disadvantaged business for government contracting purposes…well, you’ve checked almost every single box,” Ralph quipped. 

“Mrs. Lessmann has continually worked with Leigh Christian from the Catalyst Center for Business and Entrepreneurship and has since obtained several large contracts and continues to grow as a company,” he added. “Mrs. Lessmann is a highly decorated entrepreneur, having received several awards, and now she can add another from the SBA as the recipient of the Directors’ Award.” 

Ralph then introduced Greg Brown, CFO and Co-CEO of Brown Precision, Inc. Brown also serves as Board Chair in the Executive Committee of the Huntsville Chamber. Ralph noted that the Roland E. Brown family bought a small machine shop in 1986, later renaming it Brown Precision, Inc. Greg Brown joined the company in 1995. 

“Since then, BPI has become a leader in multi-access machining and assembly of complex components in the aerospace, medical, and power generation markets in Huntsville, Alabama. BPI has grown to nearly 180 employees and over $23 million in sales,” Ralph continued, adding that the company opened a new 30,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Atmore, AL in 2016. 

Ralph then presented Brown with the SBA’s national award recognizing the top small business owners from each state, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico: “It’s our pleasure to present to Mr. Brown our Alabama Small Business Person of the Year [Award]”. 

“This is ours–we loved you first before we sent you up to Washington, DC,” Ralph said with a smile, presenting Brown with an additional state-level award as the event concluded. 

Congratulations to both award recipients for well-earned recognition.

Images provided by the U.S. SBA.