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Date Posted: 12/15/2009
The AdvantageWest region was well represented at Business North Carolina magazine’s 2009 Small Business of the Year awards luncheon recently held in Watauga County. Congratulations to the 2009 Small Business of the Year, Brushy Mountain Bee Farm of Wilkes County, and to runners-up W.P Hickman and Rug & Home, both of Buncombe County.
• Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, Inc. (Wilkes Co.), the second largest manufacturer and supplier of beekeeping equipment in the country, has nearly 50 employees and more than 24,000 customers who have shopped at the Moravian Falls business in person, by mail order or online over the past two years. Founded in 1977 by Steve Forrest, Brushy Mountain’s sales this year are projected at about $6.7 million, up 24% from 2008 and 81% higher than in 2007. Learn more here.
• W.P. Hickman (Buncombe Co.), a commercial-roof edging manufacturer, has been in Asheville for nearly 35 years. The family business started in a Michigan garage in 1945 by the grandfather of CEO Scott Hickman. Hickman’s uncle moved the company to WNC in 1975. With 52 employees, W.P. Hickman is increasing market share and anticipates double-digit profit growth in 2009, with projected revenue at $15 million. Learn more here.
• Rug & Home, Inc. (Buncombe Co.), a home-furnishings retailer founded in 1995, also projects its 2009 revenue to be $15 million. With 55 employees, this family business with Rakesh Agarwal and his wife, Dolly, at the helm and their 26-year-old daughter Aanchal as COO, started in Asheville and has expanded to Upstate South Carolina and will soon open another store in Kannapolis. Learn more here.
This was the fourteenth year Business North Carolina magazine chose a Small Business of the Year to honor the contributions small businesses make to the state’s economy. Criteria include profitable, independently-owned companies that have been in business more than five years, have fewer than 100 employees, and have at least one owner active in the company.
Sr VP Entrepreneurial Development Pam Lewis, Sr. Director AdvantageGreen/Grants Matt Raker, and NC Sec'y of Commerce Keith Crisco at the awards luncheon. Photo courtesy of Business North Carolina Magazine.
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