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Celebrating Montana’s small business award winners

Thomas Hoffman, president of Summit Aeronautics Group of Helena, has been named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2003 Montana Small Business Person of the Year. After a highly successful career as a tooling engineer, having worked at aerospace giants such as the Boeing Company, Sikorsky Helicopter and Aerobotics, Hoffman made the decision to launch his own engineering company in late 1996.

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He decided to base his company where his family lived, in Helena. Summit Design and Manufacturing opened its doors June 2, 1997, with four employees, including the founder, and operated out of a 5,000-square-foot facility on the south side of the Helena Regional Airport. Today, Summit has grown to 50 full-time employees at its Montana manufacturing facility, with six off-site employees located in its Marietta, Georgia, office. The Helena facility now occupies 40,000 square feet on the airport’s north side.

The company manufactures components for the aerospace industry, including tools and parts used in the F-16, C130, F-22 and F-117 aircraft, among others. Summit’s roster of customers reads like a who’s who of the defense industry: Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Bell Helicopter and Sikorsky.

Summit’s management staff has had to demonstrate to its customers that its Helena facility can provide a quality product at a competitive price. From its inception, Hoffman envisioned a Montana-based and Montana-owned corporation dedicated to providing Montanans with quality jobs in the aerospace industry, a totally new market for the state’s economy.

To overcome the challenge of finding qualified personnel, Summit joined forces with the Helena College of Technology and established internships for machining and welding students who are able to gain valuable on-the-job training while working on their college credits.

In the fall of 2002, the company changed its name to Summit Aeronautics Group to better reflect its goal of becoming a major supplier of aerospace products and assemblies throughout the world. The long-term goal for Summit is to develop into a nationally known company with solid relationships with premier high-tech manufacturing partners.

In just six short years, Hoffman has taken a fledgling company and developed it into a dominant force in the aerospace tool and design market. The company has experienced an average growth rate of 19 percent, and sales in 2002 were in excess of $10 million.

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Larry Farrar, president, Montec Research, Butte: First Runner-Up

Larry Farrar started Montec Research, a division of Resodyn Corporation of Butte, in 1986. The business is a leading research and development company focusing on the development of advanced technology products and processes for industrial use. The company’s core competencies are resonantsonics, biotechnology, thermal processing, nanotechnology, tissue engineering, and renewable products.

The business has grown from a one-man operation to a corporation with 26 employees, whose average wages are $50,000 per year. In addition to offering exceptional employment opportunities, Montec is also considered a national expert in acquiring Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants through the federal government. The national success rate for submitted proposals is around 15 percent, while Montec’s success rate exceeds 60 percent. Farrar frequently donates his personal time to assisting others in Montana develop successful SBIR proposals.

Since 1984, Montec Research has received 45 SBIR awards, valued in excess of $8.5 million, from eight different government agencies. In addition, commercial revenues for Montec have grown from $118,000 in 1998 to more than $2 million in 2002. Throughout the process, Montec has developed an impressive array of global partners and customers, including NASA, Dow Corning, Kenosha Beef International, Lessco, U.S. Department of Agriculture, BHP Billiton, Arbokem, The Dow Chemical Company, and NSF.

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Linda Buckingham, president, Showroom Auto Body, Billings: Woman Owned Business of the Year

Seven years ago, Linda Buckingham made a career change. She decided to leave her medical office management job of 17 years and jumped "fender-first" into the auto body shop business.

In February 1995, Buckingham began working as the office manager for Showroom Auto Body & Detail in Billings. In just a year’s time, she became one of the very few women to own/run an auto body shop business in Montana.

As owner of a business traditionally dominated by men, Buckingham encountered some questioning attitudes from the start. But, it didn’t take her long to gain the respect of customers – and they kept coming back. She feels a large part of their repeat business has been due to the exceptional customer service and quality of workmanship that she and her employees have demonstrated.

Showroom Auto Body & Detail specializes in quality auto body repair and refinishing, from minor fender benders to major collision repairs, and restoration and customization.

Currently Buckingham has seven employees, including herself. She has also invested in state-of-the-art equipment, including a laser-regulated frame machine, Garmat spray booth, and a new paint mixing system.

Buckingham is active in the community and is a dedicated and involved representative of her industry. She served as the first female president of the Montana Collision Repair Specialists.

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Rachel Campbell, owner, Rachel’s Furniture Gallery, Great Falls: Young Entrepreneur of the Year

Rachel Campbell fulfilled a lifelong dream by opening Rachel’s Furniture Gallery, LLC, in Great Falls in July 2000. Born and raised in Great Falls, Campbell graduated in 1991 from Great Falls High. She then went onto college and graduated with honors from Montana State University-Great Falls with a degree in interior design. Staying in Great Falls, close to her family, was a priority for her, so after graduation, Campbell accepted a job with Falls Home Furnishings where she worked until 1996 when the owner decided to close the store.

Cambell went from job to job for the next couple of years until she began working for Holland Woodcraft in 1998. She managed Holland Woodcraft for a year then bought the business in 2000 when Mike Holland decided to get out of the retail business.

She leased the building from Holland and changed the name of the business to Rachel’s Furniture Gallery.

The store features high-end but affordable furniture in all styles, including antique, contemporary, country and Oriental. Customers who purchase furniture from Rachel’s also receive free interior design services from one of the two in-house designers. Currently Campbell has two employees. She is hoping to expand June 1 into space next door, creating an "As-is Attic" for consignment pieces.

The business has shown an increase in sales and net profit each year. Campbell attributes her success to her eclectic merchandise and interior design services.

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Wayne Nelson, president, Stockman Bank in the Billings Heights: Financial Services Advocate

Wayne Nelson started his financial services career in 1983, when he accepted a job as a national bank examiner with the Treasury Department in Billings. For the next 10 years, Nelson traveled the state of Montana and throughout the western United States. He left the Treasury Department in 1993 and joined Norwest Bank in Billings, later accepting a bank president position with another local lender. In 1998, Nelson was given the opportunity to establish a bank from the ground up and joined the Stockman Bank team.

Nelson’s experience as a bank examiner and a lender has made him more attuned to the issues that small businesses face. He is a strong proponent of minimizing the regulatory burden placed on banks because that in turn puts a burden on small businesses.

Nelson also stays current on new programs and financing options for the small business owner in order to better assist his customers.

He said the small, five-year to eight-year loans for businesses are the "bread and butter here in Billings." With the SBA as "risk partner," Nelson said his bank is able to make loans that otherwise would not be possible.

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Thomas Yoder, director, MSU-Billings Center for Applied Economic Research: Research Advocate of the Year

During 2002, Dr. Thomas Yoder and the staff at the Center for Applied Economic Research delivered numerous research products to the small business and economic development communities. The center developed a one-stop web site for doing business in the area, complete with business and economic information on the business climate, business factors, and quality of life. The center created a series of customized macroeconomic indicators for the Billings trade area, providing a basis for developing and revising sales forecasts.

Dr. Yoder and the center are involved in a variety of educational activities that support small business. The center implemented a monthly breakfast program that features speakers from around the country on best practices for business and economic growth. It is also a supporting resource for the business expansion and retention program in the region, assisting entities that face financial, workforce, and market limitations to growth.

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Deanna South, business development specialist, Small Business Development Center, Billings: Women in Business Advocate of the Year

The Billings Small Business Development Center and the Big Sky Business Information Center are part of a statewide network of SBA resource and technical service providers that assist start-up and existing businesses.

Deanna South manages the information center and is active in assisting all small business clients. However, she is intensely devoted to helping women be successful both personally and professionally. She has provided technical and managerial assistance to women in the Billings area, assisting them with everything from business plan development, business and industry research, and personnel issues to cash flow projections and identifying sources of financing.

South has eagerly assumed responsibility for the SBA’s Women’s Network for Entrepreneurial Training Program, a roundtable networking group for women professionals in the Billings area. She has conducted outreach to organizations such as the YWCA, Montana Association of Female Executives, as well as to MSU-B’s Women’s Business Classes, to increase the awareness of the support and services available to women entrepreneurs.

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Robyn Hampton, owner, Biz Savvy Professional Business Coaching & Success Outsourcing, Helena Home-based Business Advocate

Robyn Hampton is no stranger to small business. She had a very productive career prior to establishing her own home-based business, working as a CPA, commercial lender, head of a 504 Certified Development Company, a chief financial officer, and a deputy commissioner of the state’s securities office.

Hampton created Biz Savvy Professional Business Coaching to help other entrepreneurs and professionals capitalize on their ideas. She offers individualized coaching, group coaching, business needs assessments, interactive tele-classes, workshops, and specific problem-focused consulting services.

She has been involved in statewide efforts to advocate for, develop, and support small businesses. She is currently the consultant and project manager for The Montana Fund, an effort to raise private sector capital that will meet the equity capital needs of Montana’s high growth companies.

Hampton has "been there, done that" with respect to home-based businesses. She has dealt with significant rural computer connection issues as her business is dependent upon Internet communication. She has had to carve out physical space in the home for her office and financial space in home finances for the new enterprise. She juggles the time and handles the self-motivation issues that face every home-based entrepreneur, every day.

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Nancy Warneke-Gaynor, director, Salish and Kootenai College Tribal Business Information Center, Pablo Minority Small Business Advocate

Nancy Warneke-Gaynor’s passion for economic development and entrepreneurship stems from her 15-plus years of practical business experience as a former owner of several Flathead area business ventures, including Insty Prints of Kalispell.

For the past five years, Gaynor has been director of the Salish Kootenai College Tribal Business Information Center, providing business consultation to tribal entrepreneurs and businesses. In only a few short months as director, Gaynor helped 10 students get started in business and initiated a support network for tribal entrepreneurs. Over the last five years she has helped more than 200 businesses get loans and another 100 expand their operations.

In addition to individual business consulting, Gaynor has initiated and implemented many major development projects, such as pursuing a tribally owned bank, developing a revolving loan fund, forming a community development corporation, and building a golf course at the college.

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Dexter Wester, business advocate and employment services specialist, Bozeman Job Service: Veteran Small Business Advocate of the Year

Dexter Wester has worked 25 years in the Workforce Services Division of the Montana Department of Labor & Industry. Twelve of these years were spent as the local Veterans Employment Representative for the Bozeman Job Service.

Wester has been active in legislative and regulatory action designed to help small businesses. He served as chair of service to the veterans sub-committee to ensure that veterans were given preference in employment, including starting a small business. Serving as a liaison to the various veteran service organizations over the past 23 years has helped to improve the overall awareness of small business opportunities to veterans.

Wester’s military background, which includes four years of active duty with the U.S. Army as a Commissioned Officer, and 24 years in the U.S. Army Reserves, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel, has made him keenly aware of the issues affecting veterans today, including access to good jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Brian Kahn, host, National Public Radio, Helena: Small Business Journalist of the Year

Brian Kahn hosts the weekly National Public Radio public affairs program "Home Ground Conversations: Changes and Choices in the American West," which is broadcast on 45 stations in the Rocky Mountain West. While the program is not devoted solely to small business issues, they are a common theme on many episodes.

Beginning in 2002, Home Ground presented a series of live forums entitled Seeking Common Ground: Shaping our Economic Future. It explored how economic development may be a tool to reinforce deeply held community values.

The winners will be honored at a luncheon May 30 at the Red Lion Colonial Hotel in Helena at noon. To attend, contact Rena Carlson at (800) 776-9144, ext. 2 or [email protected].

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