Features - January/February 2010
Going the Extra Mile
NFIB recognizes region and state Small Business Champions
Owning a business, satisfying customers and providing livelihoods for employees are not enough for the 2009 Solveras/NFIB Small Business Champions. For these NFIB member activists, business ownership is also about standing up for free enterprise and contributing their time, talent and resources to protecting the right to own, operate and grow a small business. They believe that an informed, educated, concerned and involved public is the ultimate safeguard for small business; and that honesty, integrity and respect for human and spiritual values are important in all aspects of life--and are essential to a sustaining a good work environment.
NFIB recognized four region Small Business Champions, as well as champions in each of the 50 states. For more information on this year’s winners, visit NFIB.com.
South Region
Greg Powell
CIMA fi-plan Partners
Birmingham, Ala.
Greg Powell left his corporate job in 2005 to use his experience and knowledge to start his own financial consulting business. Joining NFIB four years ago, Powell immediately saw the value of the organization and became involved in recruiting new members and raising funds for NFIB/Alabama’s political action committee--the Save America’s Free Enterprise (SAFE) Trust.
Promoting NFIB and its members is, for Greg, good business. Whether he’s advocating an NFIB position to a state legislator or helping his state director find out how Alabama’s small businesses are reacting to particular events or issues… Greg believes that NFIB membership is part of what helps small business owners create their own "declaration of independence."
For him, that means having the time to give back to his community and touching the lives around him. Greg is involved in causes ranging from promoting literacy in low-income communities to assisting special needs children and adults.
East Region
Joe Kelly
Kelly Enterprises
Bordentown, N.J
Joe Kelly, whose firm owns and operates retail and real estate operations, has been an NFIB member for 12 years. He’s a member of the NFIB/New Jersey Leadership Council, and actively participates in local Area Action Councils. He is the chair of NFIB/New Jersey’s political action committee, the SAFE (Save America’s Free Enterprise) Trust, and an active SAFE Trust contributor.
Kelly frequently testifies before the Legislature on important small business issues and participates in grassroots activities, making phone calls, writing letters, and meeting with lawmakers and the administration. He has also helped organize efforts for campaigns and other election activities.
Despite his interest and involvement in politics, Kelly is careful when bringing up the topic to his customers. "My father taught me that you can’t let your customers know which way you lean politically, because half of them won’t agree with you," says Kelly, who took over Kelly Enterprises from his father. Through NFIB, Kelly says he’s been able to stand up for small business and "be political without being partisan."
Kelly is also a leader in his community, lending his business expertise to local boards and fundraising efforts.
Central Region
Larry Mocha
APSCO Inc.
Tulsa, Okla.
In 1995, Larry Mocha was chosen to be a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business. At the conference he was introduced to NFIB and was able to express his interest in tort reform for small business. Mocha and NFIB have been connected ever since--fighting together to help small business.
Mocha, who has owned his small manufacturing company for 25 years, is a member of the NFIB/Oklahoma Leadership Council. He has hosted numerous NFIB events and contributed to the NFIB political action committee, the Save America’s Free Enterprise Trust.
He recently testified before a congressional subcommittee in Tulsa on proposed cap-and-trade legislation. A three-time Small Business Champion in his state, Mocha also worked with the lieutenant governor and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce to organize a series of "Small Business Forums" around the state. He is also chairman of Oklahoma’s Small Business Advocacy Committee.
"We’re not a gotcha group," he says. " We wanted an environment where state agency people could work with small business owners."
West Region
Mike Horner
Tom Sawyer Camps Inc. and Catalina Island Camps
Altadena, Calif.
By the mid-1980s Mike Horner had traded his business suit for a more casual look as the owner of Tom Sawyer Summer Camp and later Catalina Island Camps. In 1998, Horner joined NFIB after noticing that local chamber groups were dominated by social functions and larger businesses.
Shortly thereafter, Horner became active in NFIB, participating in Small Business Day at the Capital, the Governor’s Conference on Small Business and local NFIB member meetings. Today, he is a member of the Southern California Leadership Council, helps with NFIB advocacy efforts at the state level, is a supporter of NFIB’s Young Entrepreneur Foundation and has been a Leadership Trust donor since 2000.
"I want to support the people who are willing to put on the helmet and fight for small business," he says.
Horner also has demonstrated exceptional leadership in reaching out and engaging his respective field sales representative to help grow and promote NFIB in his community and across California.