Entrepeneurs Win Business
Awards
Five business owners won
in the category of Emerging
Business By NED
HUNTER
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The
2006 Pinnacle
Awards for Emerging
Business went
to five companies.
Pictured left
to right are:
Michael Laffoon,
co-owner of
Trinity Solutions;
Angie and Steve
Smith, owners
of Sensational
Scents; Rachel
Dickson, owner
Dickson Gallery
of Fine Art;
Leigh House,
owner of Preferred
Plus Mortgage;
John Mauney,
co-owner of
Trussmark. The
annual awards
are sponsored
by the Jackson
Area Chamber
of Commerce.
The event was
held at Union
University.
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On
the surface, it is recognition
by their peers for a job well
done.
Beneath
that, it is a tribute to the
tenacity, perseverance and raw
courage it takes to walk away
from a steady pay check and
assume the debt needed to build
the dream of owning a business.
Those
messages and others are the
essence of the Pinnacle Awards
in the category of Emerging
Business that were presented
to five Jackson business owners
at noon on Monday at Union University.
"It's
a leap of faith when you start
your own business," said
John Mauney, who with his wife,
Susan, owns Trussmark, Inc.
Started in 2005, the company
provides budgeting scheduling,
design and contracting services.
"But I didn't want to get
to retirement and say, 'What
if?' and not know."
The
annual awards are sponsored
by the Jackson Area Chamber
of Commerce.
There
also is a category of the Pinnacle
Awards awarded to businesses
at least five years old. Those
awards will be presented at
6:30 p.m. at the Jackson Fairgrounds
Park on Thursday.
An
estimated 671,000 small businesses
were opened nationally in 2005,
according to the National Federation
of Independent Business Research
Foundation in Washington, D.C.
More than 280 small businesses
were opened in Jackson in 2006,
not including those involved
in construction, according to
records from the city's Department
of Revenue.
Leigh
House, owner of Preferred Plus
Mortgage, agreed with Mauney.
House said the right opportunity
is always worth the risk.
"When
an opportunity arises, take
it," said House, whose
voice wavered with quiet humility.
"It's better to try and
fail than not try at all."
Still,
winning the chamber's Emerging
Business award often comes down
to a sense of first-year victory
and validation.
"It's
a great recognition for a lot
of hard work and community involvement,"
said Michael Laffoon, co-owner
of Trinity Solutions. The company
offers Internet technology solutions,
including back-up data storage
and disaster recovery planning.
The company recently changed
its name to ATA Technology.
Visit
jacksonsun.com
and share your thoughts.
-
Ned Hunter, 425-9641
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