BY CHARLES WILLIAMS
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Ten of the region's fastest-growing small businesses
were honored Wednesday by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce as Emerging10
award winners.
Two were repeat winners.
The award recognizes businesses that are headquartered
in the Charleston region and have grown in personnel and revenues and been able
to respond to adversity. Sponsored by CareAlliance Health Services and Dale
Carnegie training, this year's Emerging10 include Absolutely Charleston, All
American Awards, The City Marina, Community FirstBank, Gregorie, Douglas &
Co., Glasspro Inc., Hubner Manufacturing Corp., Kayon Corp. (Putumayo), PST
Charleston Inc. and UEC Electronics/ UEC Automation LLC. UEC and Glasspro had
made the list in the past.
This year the chamber decided to revert to honoring the
region's fastest-growing companies instead of recognizing technology-oriented
companies as it had the past two years. Chamber officials said that in
recognizing the fastest-growing companies, the chamber was following criteria
used by the Small Business Administration for its Small Business of the Year
award. The winner of the Emerging10, which will be announced at the chamber's
annual banquet in June, will be eligible for the SBA's statewide Small Business
of the Year honor.
Here is a brief description of each:
• Absolutely Charleston is a destination management
company and corporate-event related transportation service company. The company
consolidated three divisions into one and has seen its sales increase more than
688 percent since it was started in 1998. Walter and Brenda Thorn and Linda
Wohlfeil are the owners.
• All American Awards, which makes awards for any
type of presentation, has seen its sales increase 953 percent since 1993. Steve
Rapchick is the president.
• The City Marina is the Charleston region's largest
privately held, full-service marina, operating and managing more than 320 boat
slips and 1,000 feet of floating fuel dock space. The company has invested more
than $7 million into marina facilities. Sales have increased more than 1,200
percent since 1995. Robbie Freeman is managing partner.
• Community FirstBank is a locally based financial
institution providing checking, savings and loan services. Established in 1997,
Community FirstBank's profits have increased more than 1,000 percent since it
started. It also was rated as having the highest return on equity of any bank in
the East and Southeast that began in 1997. John Settle is chairman of the board.
• Glasspro Inc. is a locally owned provider of auto
glass replacement and repair. Since it began business in 1995, sales have
increased 575 percent. Paul and Paula Heinauer are the owners.
• Gregorie Douglas & Co., which operates retail
home-decorating stores in the area, was originally founded in 1781. GDC was
reopened in 1992 under the guidance of Harry Gregorie, a descendant of the
original founder. Since its opening in 1992, GDC has increased sales by more
than 2,000 percent.
• Hubner Manufacturing produces bellows for mass
transit and plastic injection moldings for the automotive industry. With the
introduction of a new product line in 1998, Hubner was able to increase sales by
290 percent. Ron Hubner is the owner of the German firm.
• Kayon Corp. (Putumayo). Kayon is the parent company
of Putumayo, the Charleston-based clothing company that moved operations here in
1997 from New York. The company has increased sales by 280 percent since that
time. Kathryn Hollis Peters is the president.
• PST Charleston. The company, which specializes in
computer training and consulting, was established in 1994. The company has
worked with more than 300 Charleston-area businesses, military clients and
government agencies since then and trained more than 40,000 customers throughout
the Southeast. Ingrid Tugwell is the president. PST has seen its sales increase
18 percent in the past year.
• UEC Electronics/ UEC Automation. Founded in 1995,
the firm has grown from a small design and assembly firm into a company that
also produces custom-automated machinery and control systems for local
manufacturing companies. UEC has experienced 68 percent revenue growth since it
began operations and it expects profits to increase by 15 percent this year.
Rebecca and Phillip Ufkes are the owners.
Charles van Rysselberge, the new chamber CEO, spoke at
the awards presentation at the Charleston Area Convention Center.