Salute to Small Business Celebration
Commerce Lexington Inc. began honoring the contributions that small businesses have on our economy in 1986, and since that very first Salute to Small Business event, the impact of small businesses on the global economy has become greater than ever before. The 2023 Salute to Small Business Awards presented by Forcht Bank kicked off in May with the release of this year’s awards application and will culminate with an awards luncheon on Friday, August 18, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Central Bank Center. Awards application deadline is June 26, 2023.
Application Process
ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARDS:
• Businesses must be active members of Commerce Lexington Inc.
• Businesses must have completed three (3) or more full years of operation in the local market with fewer than 150 employees.
• Small businesses can apply for ONE award category.
• Past Category and overall Small Business of the Year award recipients are not eligible to reapply for 5 years from the date of their award presentation.
AWARD CATEGORIES:
There are four award categories from which to choose, including three for small businesses and one for area nonprofits.
• Business Success Award
• Entrepreneur Award
• Minority Business Award
• Nonprofit Community Impact Award (*Not eligible for overall Small Business of the Year Award)
• Businesses must be active members of Commerce Lexington Inc.
• Businesses must have completed three (3) or more full years of operation in the local market with fewer than 150 employees.
• Small businesses can apply for ONE award category.
• Past Category and overall Small Business of the Year award recipients are not eligible to reapply for 5 years from the date of their award presentation.
AWARD CATEGORIES:
There are four award categories from which to choose, including three for small businesses and one for area nonprofits.
• Business Success Award
• Entrepreneur Award
• Minority Business Award
• Nonprofit Community Impact Award (*Not eligible for overall Small Business of the Year Award)
PRESENTED BY:
PLATINUM SPONSORS:
Community Trust Bank
Equity Solutions Group
GOLD SPONSORS:
Central Bank & Trust Co.
H-L Media (Lexington Herald-Leader & Kentucky.com)
Kentucky Employers' Mutual Insurance
LM Communications
TravelHost of the Bluegrass
Community Trust Bank
Equity Solutions Group
GOLD SPONSORS:
Central Bank & Trust Co.
H-L Media (Lexington Herald-Leader & Kentucky.com)
Kentucky Employers' Mutual Insurance
LM Communications
TravelHost of the Bluegrass
SILVER SPONSORS:
Bankers Title of Central Kentucky
BlueRock Title
Electronic Business Machines
Energy Insurance Agency
WUKY 91.3FM
VIDEO SPONSOR:
Lamar Advertising
INVITATION & PROGRAM DESIGN SPONSOR:
Stablemate Creative LLC
Bankers Title of Central Kentucky
BlueRock Title
Electronic Business Machines
Energy Insurance Agency
WUKY 91.3FM
VIDEO SPONSOR:
Lamar Advertising
INVITATION & PROGRAM DESIGN SPONSOR:
Stablemate Creative LLC
Recap of 2022 Salute to Small Business Awards
Highbridge Springs Water Named 2022 Small Business of the Year
At today’s Commerce Lexington Salute to Small Business Awards Luncheon presented by Forcht Bank, Highbridge Springs Water was named the 2022 Small Business of the Year. The recipient of this year’s award in the Business Success Category, Highbridge Springs was chosen for the honor from three different category winners. The week-long celebration featured webinars, Facebook Live segments, and videos of the category winners.
Celebrating its 40th year in 2022, Highbridge Springs Water Company bottles and delivers pure, limestone-filtered drinking water from a natural spring fed by an underground aquifer above the Kentucky River palisades next to High Bridge in Jessamine County. Linda Griffin currently serves as president of the company, but it was her father, Bill, who purchased an inactive quarry in the mid-1970’s to possibly use in a warehousing capacity. He later realized that to use the space, he had to figure out how to address moisture issues caused by water gushing from the ceiling. Thus, Highbridge Springs was born.
Over the years, the company has seen continual growth, invested in new equipment, expanded its production and warehouse area, and added a custom bottled water product line. Today, Highbridge Springs is one of the oldest women-owned companies in the state, has 35 employees, and bottles over 20,000 gallons of water per day, which is delivered to customers in Central and Southeastern Kentucky and shipped into eight neighboring states.
At today’s Commerce Lexington Salute to Small Business Awards Luncheon presented by Forcht Bank, Highbridge Springs Water was named the 2022 Small Business of the Year. The recipient of this year’s award in the Business Success Category, Highbridge Springs was chosen for the honor from three different category winners. The week-long celebration featured webinars, Facebook Live segments, and videos of the category winners.
Celebrating its 40th year in 2022, Highbridge Springs Water Company bottles and delivers pure, limestone-filtered drinking water from a natural spring fed by an underground aquifer above the Kentucky River palisades next to High Bridge in Jessamine County. Linda Griffin currently serves as president of the company, but it was her father, Bill, who purchased an inactive quarry in the mid-1970’s to possibly use in a warehousing capacity. He later realized that to use the space, he had to figure out how to address moisture issues caused by water gushing from the ceiling. Thus, Highbridge Springs was born.
Over the years, the company has seen continual growth, invested in new equipment, expanded its production and warehouse area, and added a custom bottled water product line. Today, Highbridge Springs is one of the oldest women-owned companies in the state, has 35 employees, and bottles over 20,000 gallons of water per day, which is delivered to customers in Central and Southeastern Kentucky and shipped into eight neighboring states.
2022 Salute to Small Business Category Award Winners:
MINORITY BUSINESS AWARD:
VOLO Careers International
710 East Main Street, Lexington, KY 40502
859-523-3071
www.volocareers.com
Established in 1997, VOLO Careers International specializes in senior-level women recruitment (and high-potential men too) - Board, CEO, and C-Suite - across thirty industries, including aerospace and defense, higher education, and medical devices within sixty-two countries worldwide. Its proprietary database allows VOLO’s executive search consultants to identify a strong slate of diverse talent that’s off-the-market and off-the-grid. VOLO is trusted by organizations to effectively increase the number of women in all races, cultures, and backgrounds in leadership positions. Led by CEO Everett Bracken, VOLO has been helping its clients close the gender gap by identifying a large pool of extraordinary women and historically underrepresented groups for every senior-level search. While many happy and engaged employees do not use on-line career options, VOLO’s innovative database of 40 million-plus people includes extraordinary, diverse people not on social media and not reachable through traditional talent acquisition methods. As a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned and Minority-Owned Business, VOLO has completed projects around the world all while being based in Lexington. [FIND OUT MORE IN THIS VIDEO]
VOLO Careers International
710 East Main Street, Lexington, KY 40502
859-523-3071
www.volocareers.com
Established in 1997, VOLO Careers International specializes in senior-level women recruitment (and high-potential men too) - Board, CEO, and C-Suite - across thirty industries, including aerospace and defense, higher education, and medical devices within sixty-two countries worldwide. Its proprietary database allows VOLO’s executive search consultants to identify a strong slate of diverse talent that’s off-the-market and off-the-grid. VOLO is trusted by organizations to effectively increase the number of women in all races, cultures, and backgrounds in leadership positions. Led by CEO Everett Bracken, VOLO has been helping its clients close the gender gap by identifying a large pool of extraordinary women and historically underrepresented groups for every senior-level search. While many happy and engaged employees do not use on-line career options, VOLO’s innovative database of 40 million-plus people includes extraordinary, diverse people not on social media and not reachable through traditional talent acquisition methods. As a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned and Minority-Owned Business, VOLO has completed projects around the world all while being based in Lexington. [FIND OUT MORE IN THIS VIDEO]
BUSINESS SUCCESS AWARD:
Highbridge Springs Water
P.O. Box 100, Wilmore, KY 40390
859-858-4407
www.highbridgesprings.com
Celebrating its 40th year in 2022, Highbridge Springs Water Company bottles and delivers pure, limestone-filtered drinking water from a natural spring fed by an underground aquifer above the Kentucky River palisades next to High Bridge in Jessamine County. This special product is delivered to thousands of customers in Central and Southeastern Kentucky directly from its own fleet of trucks. Through wholesale grocery companies, Highbridge Springs Water is shipped into approximately eight neighboring states. Linda Griffin currently serves as president of the company, but it was her father, Bill, who purchased an inactive quarry in the mid-1970’s to possibly use in a warehousing capacity. He later realized that in order to use the space in that way, he had to figure out how to address moisture issues caused by water gushing from the ceiling. Thus, Highbridge Springs began as a solution to a problem. In the early days, Bill and his daughters filled gallon bottles, load up the pickup truck, and daughters Mary and Linda would approach local stores to buy the bottled water - a product that was unknown in this market at the time. Today, Highbridge Springs is one of the oldest women-owned companies in Kentucky, has 35 employees, and bottles over 20,000 gallons of water per day. [FIND OUT MORE IN THIS VIDEO]
Highbridge Springs Water
P.O. Box 100, Wilmore, KY 40390
859-858-4407
www.highbridgesprings.com
Celebrating its 40th year in 2022, Highbridge Springs Water Company bottles and delivers pure, limestone-filtered drinking water from a natural spring fed by an underground aquifer above the Kentucky River palisades next to High Bridge in Jessamine County. This special product is delivered to thousands of customers in Central and Southeastern Kentucky directly from its own fleet of trucks. Through wholesale grocery companies, Highbridge Springs Water is shipped into approximately eight neighboring states. Linda Griffin currently serves as president of the company, but it was her father, Bill, who purchased an inactive quarry in the mid-1970’s to possibly use in a warehousing capacity. He later realized that in order to use the space in that way, he had to figure out how to address moisture issues caused by water gushing from the ceiling. Thus, Highbridge Springs began as a solution to a problem. In the early days, Bill and his daughters filled gallon bottles, load up the pickup truck, and daughters Mary and Linda would approach local stores to buy the bottled water - a product that was unknown in this market at the time. Today, Highbridge Springs is one of the oldest women-owned companies in Kentucky, has 35 employees, and bottles over 20,000 gallons of water per day. [FIND OUT MORE IN THIS VIDEO]
ENTREPRENEUR AWARD:
Astral
333 E. Short St., Suite 210, Lexington, KY 40507
859-940-5016
www.astral.services
Astral was founded in 2015 when Megan Brooks saw a problem at one fitness studio and sought to find out how broad it was. Seven years and over 1,000 customers later, Astral exists to allow studio owners (individual and corporate) to focus their passion and expertise on fitness and run a successful retail component of their business. Astral is the leading destination for wholesale apparel distribution, retail consultation, and premium 3PL services, for the U.S. boutique fitness studio market. Megan and her team help clients increase retail revenue and margin, diminish purchasing risk, reduce time spent on retail, and elevate the studio experience for their customers. Since its inception, Astral has grown from one part time employee to 25 full-time employees and in 2021, the business purchased a 19,000-square foot facility to provide the physical space required for the company’s rapid growth. Its customers include everything from individual studio owners to the largest boutique fitness company in the world, while its partners span individual apparel designers, nationally-recognized brands, and overseas raw materials suppliers. The success and growth of Astral is an example of one entrepreneur having a passion for helping other entrepreneurs and small business owners find success. [FIND OUT MORE IN THIS VIDEO]
Astral
333 E. Short St., Suite 210, Lexington, KY 40507
859-940-5016
www.astral.services
Astral was founded in 2015 when Megan Brooks saw a problem at one fitness studio and sought to find out how broad it was. Seven years and over 1,000 customers later, Astral exists to allow studio owners (individual and corporate) to focus their passion and expertise on fitness and run a successful retail component of their business. Astral is the leading destination for wholesale apparel distribution, retail consultation, and premium 3PL services, for the U.S. boutique fitness studio market. Megan and her team help clients increase retail revenue and margin, diminish purchasing risk, reduce time spent on retail, and elevate the studio experience for their customers. Since its inception, Astral has grown from one part time employee to 25 full-time employees and in 2021, the business purchased a 19,000-square foot facility to provide the physical space required for the company’s rapid growth. Its customers include everything from individual studio owners to the largest boutique fitness company in the world, while its partners span individual apparel designers, nationally-recognized brands, and overseas raw materials suppliers. The success and growth of Astral is an example of one entrepreneur having a passion for helping other entrepreneurs and small business owners find success. [FIND OUT MORE IN THIS VIDEO]
NONPROFIT COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD:
GreenHouse17
4400 Briar Hill Road, Lexington, KY 40555-5190
800-544-2022
www.GreenHouse17.org
GreenHouse17 is the state-designated provider of domestic violence services in the 17-county central Kentucky region. Formerly known as Bluegrass Domestic Violence Program, the organization was established in 2004 with support from the Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence (KCADV) and United Way of the Bluegrass. The organization operates a 42-bed emergency shelter on a beautiful 40-acre property in rural Fayette County. From this location and two additional offices near downtown Lexington, specially trained advocates provide more than 50,000 supportive services each year for survivors of intimate partner abuse and their children in Fayette County. Despite initial concerns about effectively serving the region from a rural location, the organization decided to make the land part of its mission by growing vegetables and herbs for the preparation of healthy field-to-table meals in the shelter facility. Survivor interest soon inspired the organization to expand farm operations to grow beautiful flowers in the spring and summer seasons. In 2013, the organization took on its current name of GreenHouse17 to reflect its integration of nature-based healing with traditional services for survivors of intimate partner abuse. [FIND OUT MORE IN THIS VIDEO]
GreenHouse17
4400 Briar Hill Road, Lexington, KY 40555-5190
800-544-2022
www.GreenHouse17.org
GreenHouse17 is the state-designated provider of domestic violence services in the 17-county central Kentucky region. Formerly known as Bluegrass Domestic Violence Program, the organization was established in 2004 with support from the Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence (KCADV) and United Way of the Bluegrass. The organization operates a 42-bed emergency shelter on a beautiful 40-acre property in rural Fayette County. From this location and two additional offices near downtown Lexington, specially trained advocates provide more than 50,000 supportive services each year for survivors of intimate partner abuse and their children in Fayette County. Despite initial concerns about effectively serving the region from a rural location, the organization decided to make the land part of its mission by growing vegetables and herbs for the preparation of healthy field-to-table meals in the shelter facility. Survivor interest soon inspired the organization to expand farm operations to grow beautiful flowers in the spring and summer seasons. In 2013, the organization took on its current name of GreenHouse17 to reflect its integration of nature-based healing with traditional services for survivors of intimate partner abuse. [FIND OUT MORE IN THIS VIDEO]
For Salute to Small Business Sponsorship opportunities, email Angela Carlos.