Manatee’s Best in Small Business a Diverse Group

Manatee’s Best in Small Business a Diverse Group

By CHRISTINE HAWES

MANATEE — One specializes in clean and green technology, two are all about improving online communication and effectiveness, and a fourth has toiled for almost three decades in the highly traditional industry of plumbing.

All four share the distinction of being recognized Thursday as among the county’s top small businesses by the Manatee Chamber of Commerce.

Environmental BioTech, whose innovations include converting grease trap oil into clean water and fertilizer, received the Chamber’s Industry Excellence Award. United Systems Computer Group, Webtivity Design Solutions and LaPensee Plumbing & Pools each received the Chamber’s Small Business of the Year award.

The four winners, chosen out of 27 finalists and almost 100 nominees, were announced at a noon luncheon at Bradenton’s Renaissance on 9th attended by hundreds of Chamber members.

The biggest hoots and applause from the audience came at the announcement that LaPensee Plumbing, of Holmes Beach, had won the award for small businesses with more than $2 million annual sales. The family owned company includes current president Karen; her husband and company co-founder Michael, who retired last year; son and new license-holder Greg; and daughter Shawn, who handles marketing for the company.

Although the company has been around for 26 years, this is the first year it has applied for the Chamber’s Small Business Award. LaPensee earned the award largely because of its efforts to recruit younger employees into the plumbing trade, and for its commitment to providing customers a one-of-a-kind sales experience through its live showroom of fixtures and appliances.

“I am just overwhelmed,” Karen LaPensee said repeatedly. “It’s wonderful to have it recognized that you’ve made the right decisions going forward. Sometimes it’s hard to give employees benefits that everyone is cutting out. But we didn’t back off, and we now have the best employee base we’ve ever had.”

United Systems, which received the award for companies with $500,000 to $2 million in sales, had pinpointed a Chamber Small Business Award as one of its key “benchmarks” since co-owner David Spire purchased the company in 2006.

“We knew that if we could build a business that exemplified everything this business award embodies, we’d have a business that really served the community,” Spire said.

The company increased its sales by 15 percent over the past two years by focusing on clear, reliable community service and enacting numerous measures, such as profit-sharing and team-building, designed to empower its employees.

Webtivity, the award-winner for businesses with less than $500,000 in annual sales, had applied for the award at least six times before, president Terry Thompson said. That, and the fact that his company’s table was tucked in the back of the Renaissance on 9th’s large ballroom, left him unusually surprised at this year’s win, Thompson said.

“It’s just a large sense of pride knowing that your peers in the community recognize your hard work, your customer service and the way you treat your employees,” he said. Webtivity’s client list “reads like a who’s who of the community,” said one awards presenter, and includes such distinguished names as the Manatee Economic Development Council, Port Manatee, South Florida Museum, and chambers of commerce for Manatee County, Venice and Anna Maria Island.

The company’s decision to go beyond web design services and provide comprehensive marketing to its clients was a key factor in earning the Small Business Award.

Aziz Tejpar, founder of Environmental Biotech, said he was “really humbled” by the industry Excellence honor. Tejpar chose Manatee County as the place to found his company in 2007 after researching dozens of other communities. He was swayed by the support the area showed among both government entities and financial institutions for small businesses.

In addition to converting grease trap oil into clean water and fertilizer, Environmental Biotech has created green technology for pothole repairs and plans to open two plastics recycling plants in the area soon.

“We have a lot of new things coming,” Tejpar told the crowd,” and opportunities for lots and lots of jobs.”

The Manatee Chamber of Commerce has been handing out Manatee Small Business Awards for 32 years. Winners are chosen by a panel of judges that consists of fellow small business owners, many of them previous award winners.