2013 NBDC Business Awards
NBDC Champion of Small Business: Garwood Enterprises Inc.
Adaption and innovation have enabled Garwood Enterprises Inc. to find new sources of revenue for the family-owned business in Dakota City, Neb. Current President and CEO Douglas Garwood directs the various operations with his son, Scott. The company´s farming operations consists of approximately 1,400 acres of row crops. Ten years ago, the Garwoods diversified their operations and added a hydroponic greenhouse to grow tomatoes and cucumbers doing business as Cardinal Farms. The 13,200-square-foot greenhouse provides fresh produce to grocery stores and restaurants in the area, and sells to the general public directly at the farm.
Most recently, the Garwoods have added a $1 million fish production facility. Cardinal Farms Aquaculture will operate in a state-of-the-art, 11,650-square-foot building featuring a dozen 10,000-gallon fiberglass tanks with the capacity to raise more than 90,000 fish at a time.
Garwood is active in many community service efforts including the South Sioux City (Neb.) Area Chamber of Commerce. He is a founding member of Siouxland Ethanol and serves as secretary for its board of directors.
NBDC Government Contractor of the Year: CLH Architects
Calvin Hinz is a Vietnam-era veteran and CLH Architects, headquartered in Elkhorn, is a certified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business. CLH Architects has experience in health care, senior living, educational, federal government, financial, religious, public, industrial and historic renovation design.
Hinz and his firm have completed an impressive list of government contracts for Department of Veterans Affairs, National Guard and Veterans Administration facilities in Omaha, Grand Island, Oklahoma City, Des Moines and Iowa City.
NBDC Export Business of the Year: Elliott Equipment Co.
The company was founded in 1948 when Richard Elliott developed the first truck-mounted telescoping aerial work platform and crane. The Glazer family bought the company in 1990. Jim Glazer serves as the company´s president and CEO. Today, the company builds more than 40 truck-mounted aerial work platform and crane models, from the original Hi-Reach to the Skywalk and BoomTruck. The equipment is used in a wide array of industries including electrical, oil and gas, construction, signage, lighting, maintenance, transportation, utilities, ports and mining.
Glazer says the company currently does business in the U.S., Canada, Chile, Colombia, Peru and China and plans to expand. Elliott is benefiting from strength in the copper mining industry in Chile and coal mining in Colombia, The company also benefits from tapping into a network of well-established distributors in South America.
NBDC Technology Business of the Year: LNK Chemsolutions
LNKChemsolutions is a group of engineers who are experts in the field of novel nanostructured materials. Together, they provide nanotech solutions to meet new product performance challenges and create proprietary nanofiber design technology. Founded in 2000 by Gustavo Larsen, Ph.D., professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, LNKChemsolutions has core competencies in nanoparticle and nanofiber research and development for a variety of applications such as toxicology, tissue engineering, encapsulation and controlled release.
LNKChemsolutions has received contracts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and Kraft Foods to develop new nanotechnology products. After transforming the company from a consulting role in 2010, LNKChemsolutions has grown from three to 10 employees. Dr. Larsen says he is expanding the company internationally with a partnership in Argentina.
NBDC Manufacturing Business of the Year: Certified Transmission
Certified Transmission operates a 106,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Omaha and a 40,000-square-foot plant in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Founder Peter Fink also owns 13 retail locations in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri, and continues to expand through a network of distributors across the U.S. Once a one-man show, Certified Transmission employs about 400 people.
Growth has been fueled by efficiency and reducing waste. Nebraska Business Development Center training helped Certified Transmission increase production without physically expanding its space. In 2011, the company remanufactured 28,000 transmissions. For fiscal 2014, Fink anticipates a record 40,350 transmissions. Certified Transmission stocks $1.5 million in parts inventory and owns numerous precision industrial computer numerical control (CNC) milling machines, so even an out-of-stock transmission can be remanufactured in a few days.
NBDC Business of the Year in Energy & Environment: The Grey Plume
Upon its opening in 2010, The Grey Plume was named the first Green Restaurant Association 4-star SustainaBuild restaurant in the United States. The criteria are similar to LEED certification but apply specifically to restaurants. Owner and chef Clayton Chapman has created a dining experience that emphasizes locally produced foods and operates in a sustainable way. When building the restaurant, Chapman chose energy efficient equipment as well as locally-produced art and furnishings. He used mostly recycled building materials, recycled barn wood and repurposed fixtures.
Water and energy savings are paramount in the restaurant´s sustainable daily operations, with half/gallon per minute hand-washing sinks (as compared to the standard 2.2 gallons per minute), high efficiency toilets, variable-speed exhaust hoods, LED lighting, energy star appliances and a 98 percent efficient water heater. The Grey Plume also has a thorough recycling and composting program for unavoidable wastes.