June 21, 2011 -
Southport, NC - The
Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce
presents four awards annually. These awards are the
Ambassador of the Year, President’s Award, Small
Business Customer Service Award and Small Business
of the Year award. They were presented during the
36th Annual Membership Meeting held this past
Thursday at the Southport Community Building.
The 2011
Ambassador of the Year is Karen Guenette of
Edward Jones in Southport. Ms. Guenette visited 51
members, attended 14 ribbon cuttings, 9 Business
After Hours and 6 other chamber events.
Pictured Left
To Right: Dennis Coffey, Karen Guenette Karen Taylor
The
President’s Award is given to an individual or
business that has gone above and beyond in the
support of the organization. This year’s recipient
is Dr. Brad Hilaman. Dr. Hilaman was very generous
during the North Carolina Department of
Transportation’s acquisition of the Chamber’s
Building. His generosity secured a bright future for
the Chamber and will be showcased when we begin to
build the new Chamber Building.
Pictured Left
To Right: Dennis Coffey, Dr. Brad Hilaman and Karen
Taylor
The Southport-Oak
Island Area Chamber of Commerce accepts nominations
until May 1st of each year for the Small Business
Customer Service & Small Business Person of the
Year. Through these awards the Chamber recognize
small businesses that are providing excellent
customer service and businesses that are creating
jobs in our area. Judging for the competition is
provided by the Small Business Technology &
Development Center at UNCW. The SBTDC provides FREE
confidential assistance and training for small
businesses.
The 2011 Small
Business Customer Service of the Year is
Zeetlegoo’s Pet & People Store. This business opened
its doors in 2004 and by 2011, it had doubled its
square footage, grew the business 30% in the first
few years to about an 8% growth annually despite the
sluggish economy and increased employees from one
full time employee when it opened to now employing 7
individuals. What distinguished Zeetlegoo’s Pet &
People Store in addition to great customer service
is that a large number of customers that shop at
Zeetlegoo’s have pets with problems; skin issues,
gastrointestinal issues and training issues to name
a few. They provide one-on-one assistance. They keep
a database with the history of purchases, thereby
tracking a pet’s food history allowing them to
better assist in finding solutions to food
allergies. They provide handouts about allergies and
dog nutrition, do talks at community meetings, and
have an informational website and a Facebook
presence where they post articles, updates and
coupons. Their customers both four legs and two legs
are the key to their success and they recognize it
daily providing great customer service.
Pictured
Left To Right: Dennis Coffey, Rae & Paul Keane and
Karen Taylor
The 2011 Small
Business Person of the Year is Emily Humphreys
of Port City Java of Southport. Ms. Humphreys
purchased an established business in 2005 because
she wanted to live in Southport and run a business
while she still had energy and stamina. The first
year she owned the business sales grew 13%, growing
19% in the next and this year growth is currently
tracking at 7%. She employees 10 people, who are
interactive, responsible, friendly, courteous, and
hard working. Emily Humphreys views customers as
guests and strives to treat them as such by giving
them the best product and most clean environment
that they can – fast, accurate, and courteous. Being
a franchise, they are required to do things the way
the corporate office has specified – otherwise they
need to deliver their product the same way as a
store in Wilmington or Greensboro. But she does not
rely on corporate to innovate. She is constantly
suggesting new ways of doing things for example they
pre-measure and bag smoothies for added speed and
she was the catalyst that recognized the smaller
appetite which led to the addition of half wraps on
the menu. She is open seven days a week recognizing
consistency, quality and speed as vital to keep
repeat customers. She is consistently among the top
six franchise stores for highest monthly sales
within the system. She received the Platinum A award
from the Brunswick County Health Department in March
2011. An award given for achieving a Sanitation
Score 95% or above for five consecutive years for
each quarter.
Pictured Left
To Right: Dennis Coffey, Emily Humphreys and Karen
Taylor
