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The 2012 class of Kentucky Business Pacesetter winners will be recognized at the Kentucky Celebrates Small Business awards ceremony at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 16, in Frankfort. Community leaders, small business owners, small business advocates, the media and the public are invited to attend this event.

Videos Of 2012 Winners

The businesses being honored for their positive impact on Kentucky’s economy and communities include:

• G&R Reclamation (Horse Cave)
• First In Trailer Service, Inc. (Walton)
• Kalleo Technologies (Paducah)
• Bluegrass Veterinary Specialists, PLLC (Lexington)
• Innovative Workflow Technologies, Inc. (Henderson)
• John O’s Market (Elizabethtown)
• Global Environmental Services (Georgetown)
• Boneal, Inc. (Means)
• Ferm SOLUTIONS (Danville)
• TrollandToad.Com (Corbin)
• Air Hydro Power, Inc. (Louisville)
• D&M Contracting (Richmond)

The 2012 Kentucky Business Pacesetters were selected from nominations illustrating the businesses’ efforts to change the economic landscape of Kentucky by introducing innovative products; increasing sales and/or production; boosting employment; and serving their communities. Each of the winning businesses demonstrated the intent and capacity to grow based on employee and sales growth, entrepreneurial leadership, sustainable competitive advantage and additional notable factors.

Also at this event will be the formal recognition of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Kentucky 2012 Small Business Person of the Year, Financial Services Champion of the Year and Women in Business Champion of the Year. Businesses being honored by the S.B.A. are:

• 2012 Small Business Person of the Year: Donovan Wadsworth, D&M Contracting (Richmond)
• 2012 SBA Financial Services Champion of the Year: Deborah Gray, LGE-KU Energy, LLC (Morganfield)
• 2012 Kentucky Women in Business Champion: Cathy Stafford, Ad-Venture Promotions (Lexington)

The Kentucky Small Business Development Center is a network of 15 offices located throughout Kentucky that help existing and start-up businesses succeed by offering high quality, in-depth and hands-on services. These services include: no-cost confidential business consultations, affordable business workshops, seminars, and research to make informed business decisions.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sarah Magargee-Hineman, (859) 257-7661

Operation Veteran 2 Entrepreneur will provide mission critical information to help veterans build and grow small businesses in Kentucky.

ATLANTA –The U.S. Small Business Administration announced today the opening of two Disaster Loan Outreach Centers (DLOCs) and a Business Recovery Center in Kentucky on Monday, April 2. These Centers will continue to provide one-on-one assistance to homeowners, renters and business owners seeking disaster assistance for losses caused by the severe storms, tornadoes, winds and flooding that occurred between Feb. 29 and March 3, 2012.

“Survivors who receive a SBA disaster loan application should submit it as soon as possible to receive consideration for a loan to help with their recovery”, said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA Field Operations Center East. “SBA’s Customer Service Representatives will be on hand at all of the Centers to issue loan applications, answer questions about the disaster loan program, explain the application process and assist survivors with completing their applications”, Skaggs added.

All SBA Centers will remain at the current Disaster Recovery Center locations and open Monday,
April 2, with hours Monday thru Friday, 9 am to 6 pm, closed Saturdays and Sundays; and remain open until further notice, at the following locations:

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Biological Prospects Exports Equithrive with KSBDC Assistance

Science, not business, comes naturally to Pat Lawless, founder of Biological Prospects, a high-tech company that produces a line of nutraceutical supplements for the equine industry.  Uncertain how to market his novel product on an international scale, Lawless contacted Gordon Garrett, associate director with the KSBDC.

Together Garrett and Lawless reviewed his product offerings and drew up a plan so he could quickly and cost effectively take “Equithrive” to the international equine market. “Basically, Gordon advised me to outsource everything we can. For example, manufacturers know a lot more about manufacturing a product than I do.”

By utilizing the market prowess of five large distributors, Lawless was able to move Equithrive across international boundaries in a fraction of the time it would have taken him to build and train his own sales force.

“I have implemented a similar model with numerous KSBDC clients,” Garrett said. “It takes a lot less money to get these businesses off the ground if we piggyback on the relationships distributors have already formed with retailers.”

For Biological Prospects, that partnership means moving their product to an international market in a matter of months vs. years.  Today the company exports products through five major distributors, all with highly-trained sales forces that have established relationships with veterinarians across the globe. To-date, five percent of Lawless’ product is exported to Australia and Canada and Europe.

“The SBDC has been a tremendously valuable resource. I don’t know what I would have done without Gordon’s assistance. He has guided me through every step of this process.”

- Pat Lawless

Biological Prospects has plans for continued growth in the coming years with the release of several new products and a patented way to synthesize nutraceuticals more efficiently and cheaply than ever before.

DETROIT — Victims of the severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding that began on Feb. 29, 2012 in parts of Kentucky may qualify for tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service.

The President has declared Johnson, Kenton, Laurel, Lawrence, Menifee, Morgan and Pendleton counties a federal disaster area. Individuals who reside or have a business in these counties may qualify for tax relief.

The declaration permits the IRS to postpone certain deadlines for taxpayers who reside or have a business in the disaster area. For instance, certain deadlines falling on or after Feb. 29, and on or before May 31, have been postponed to May 31, 2012. This includes the April 17 deadline for filing 2011 individual income tax returns, making income tax payments and making 2011 contributions to an individual retirement account (IRA).

In addition, the IRS is waiving the failure-to-deposit penalties for employment and excise tax deposits due on or after Feb. 29, and on or before March 15, as long as the deposits are made by March 15, 2012.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (January 12, 2012) − The Kentucky Small Business Development Center is now accepting nominations for the 5th annual Kentucky Business Pacesetter Program. The program recognizes businesses that are changing the economic landscape of Kentucky by introducing innovative products; increasing sales and/or production; boosting employment; and, serving the communities of the commonwealth.

The recognition program is designed to honor high performing, second-stage businesses that are privately held and have been in business for three or more years. Companies that meet the following minimum qualifications are encouraged to apply:

• Employ six or more full-time equivalent employees, including the owner
• Sales meeting or exceeding $500,000.00
• Demonstrate the intent and capacity to grow based on evidence, such as:
• Employee or sales growth
• Exceptional entrepreneurial leadership
• Sustainable competitive advantage
• Other notable factors that showcase the company’s success

Nomination forms are available and may be submitted online at http://ksbdc.org/nominate/. Any third party who is associated with a successful second-stage business is encouraged to submit a nomination form. Additionally, self nominations are accepted. All nominations are due by February 17, 2012. Winners will be recognized in front of government leaders and small business owners at the Kentucky Celebrates Small Business event being held in May 2012. Winners will receive a promotional DVD highlighting their business, an award inscribed with their company’s name, a profile of their company in a commemorative program, use of the official Pacesetter’s logo, customized media releases announcing the award and an invitation to an exclusive luncheon.

Eight successful businesses located throughout Kentucky were inducted as 2011 Pacesetters. These honorees are: Capital Cellars, DMD Data Systems, Earl G. Dumplin’s, EHI Consultants, Fast Process Service, Geothermal Supply Company, Puzzle’s Fun Dome, and Shelby Industries.

The Kentucky Small Business Development Center is a network of 15 service centers located throughout the commonwealth that help existing and start-up businesses succeed by offering high quality, in-depth and hands-on services. These services include: no-cost confidential business consultations, affordable business workshops and seminars, research to make informed business decisions and valuable resources.

The deadline for minority and women-owned businesses to apply for a program to help them compete in the construction business has been extended to December 9, 2011. The classes will begin January 10, 2012.

The Lexington Minority and Women Contractor Training Program is in its second year. It is a 10-week program that covers topics ranging from estimating and bidding to subcontracting. It will again be held at the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Center, 200 East Main Street.

The program teaches skills that will help minority and women-owned businesses and is sponsored by the Kentucky Small Business Development Center, Bluegrass Airport, Messer Construction Co., BEX Construction, the Fayette County Public Schools and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. A new sponsor, the University of Kentucky Facilities Management, has been added.

“These partnerships have reignited this program and we are definitely seeing results. We have seen a number of last year’s participants get contracts as a direct result of them attending the workshops,” said Dee Dee Harbut, director for special programs with the Kentucky Small Business Development Center.

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Mitzi Bender decided a rain barrel was the perfect solution to her flooding basement. Unfortunately, an attractive rain barrel that met her neighborhoods’ stringent requirements was nowhere to be found. Rather than accept a lifetime of soggy basement carpets, Bender partnered with her friend Karen Bell and together designed their own attractive “raintainer” for the capture of rooftop runoff.

As their invention took shape, Bender and Bell formed a company, Four Water LLC. In search of startup guidance, Bender and Bell turned to Carol Cornell, director of the SBDC at Northern Kentucky University, for financial instruction, price modeling and general startup support. In March 2008, Four Water LLC incorporated and in June they filed a registered trademark and patent.

A friend put us in touch with Carol at the NKU SBDC. We found the services so valuable that we were meeting with Carol on a near weekly basis. The SBDC assistance we have received was absolutely critical to our growth.

- Mitzi Bender, co-owner

Four Water LLC sold their first 500 rain barrels to the city of Lexington, which promptly sold out in just 24 hours. In 2009, the city of Lexington continued to support Four Water LLC and designed a special rain barrel mascot, Lily, to join the city’s other household waste, lawn waste and recycling mascots.

Bender and Bell have put particular emphasis on making sure Four Water LLC creates green jobs in Kentucky while producing a sustainable product. Today, their rain barrels are produced at a plant and fulfillment center in Mt. Sterline, Kentucky.

The company is currently providing 14 cities with rain barrels and has plans to continue growing the “raintainer” line as well as expanding into other product offerings.

Global Environmental Services (GES) is a leading certified electronic waste recycler licensed by the state of Kentucky. GES works with an extensive network of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and product brokers and offers a host of services from its state of teh art 70,000 square foot facility.

GES was founded in 2008 by Kenny Gravitt and Paul Haddix. Gravitt and Haddix sought to build a company that recycled electronics properly, doing no harm to the environment or communities around the world.

The recession impacted GES immediately after the company opened its doors for business. In a matter of months GES was facing revenue streams that were less than a quarter of initial financial predictions. “The entire commodity market crashed and left us in the wake,” Gravitt said. “We struggled for a really long time before finding ourselves in front of Gordon Garrett and Shirie Hawkins with the SBDC.”

Hawkins and Garrett helped GES seek funding by preparing pro-forma projections that were later presented to national and local lenders, and a private investor. Three separate funding offers were made, and all fell through. “At this point, I viewed GES as a distressed business and we began embarking on a process that would help get their business house in order,” Garrett said.

Garrett and Hawkins started by focusing on the operational aspects of GES to make the business more efficient. Once operational assets were in check, Hawkins turned their attention to GES’s cost accounting. “At the time GES had 70-80 contracts with electronics firms that had electronic equipment to dispose of,” Garrett said. “GES’s accounting systems were not designed to track profitability by contract, client or even by type of electronic gear sold or recycled.”

The weeks and months that followed brought great change to GES.

Gordon and Shirie came in and taught us how to change our processes in order to stop the hemorrhaging. These were tough conversations that were not always pleasant to have, but they were factual, to the point and, ultimately, saved this company.

- Kenny Gravitt, co-founder

Today, GES is profitable, poised to double revenue in 2011 and ranked in the top 10 of electronics recyclers in the nation.

What started with only four employees has now grown to more than 60 employees. “I am very proud that we have created 60 new jobs in Kentucky,” Gravitt said. “In addition, our employees have the opportunity to build new, technical skills while working here, something that is tremendously important in today’s world.”

Karen and Norris Kennedy first approached the Hopkinsville SBDC in March 2009 with a problem – they could not find any good hot wings in the area. Norris, who is currently on active duty at Fort Campbell, wanted to remedy this problem by obtaining the local franchise for Buffalo Wings and Rings.

Together the Kennedy’s and the SBDC developed a business plan, met with local bankers and representatives of the franchise, and prepared a SBA loan package. The couple was later awarded a SBA 7A loan for $488,500 and injected $80,000 of their own money into the project.

On September 13, 2010 the Kennedy’s proudly opened Buffalo Wings and Rings and set franchise records for total sales for opening day and opening week of the franchise.

In addition to bringing good wings to the area, the Kennedy’s business venture has added approximately 45 new jobs to the local economy. There are plans to add an additional five in the coming months.

I am very appreciative of all the help we received from Roy Keller of the Hopkinsville SBDC. They were able to help with the 7A loan when the banker was not. Thanks to the SBDC we are now open for business.

- Karen Kennedy, co-owner