Chamber recognizes local small businesses

Bob Baron is named Entrepreneur of the Year

Bob Baron, founder of Baron Services Inc., was named Entrepreneur of the Year at Thursday's Small Business Awards Dinner, an annual event hosted by the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce.

Baron was chosen from among nearly 80 contenders representing companies, nonprofit organizations and executives from the Huntsville area. He was also the recipient of the Business Fellow from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, which is awarded each year at the event.

Baron said he was accepting the award "on behalf of the 90-plus resourceful folks who make up Baron Services."

Baron Services is a pioneer in weather monitoring technologies.

"We are humbly honored to be a part of this community," Baron said.

The Small Business Awards Celebration recognizes locally based small businesses and nonprofits for their financial success, growth and community involvement. Other winners were Rosenblum Realty Inc., personal services/retail; Woodland Homes of Huntsville Inc., construction and manufacturing; Advanced Federal Services, business services/wholesale; Torch Technologies Inc., technology; Woman's Business Center of North Alabama, nonprofit.

Other award recipients included Rob Heard, Young Professional of the Year; David Brock, Small Business Advocate for Excellence; and Myers Technical Services, Small Business Startup of the Year.

Finalists for the awards included:

Entrepreneur of the Year - Dr. Anthony Houssaine, SpineCare; Sharon Steelman, Bama Jammer Promotions

Young Professional of the Year - Kevin L. Jefferson, CEO of Jefferson Capital Partners LLC; Maggie Turner, private banking officer, First Commercial Bank

Personal Services/Retail - Average to Art, Inc.; Investor's Resource

Construction and Manufacturing - Green Mountain Soap Co. Inc.; AZ Technology

Business Services/Wholesale - 4-Site Inc.; Snelling Staffing Services

Technology - System, Studies and Simulation (S3) Inc.; MTS

Nonprofit - Hospice Family Care; The Land Trust of Huntsville & North Alabama

The event was presented by First Commercial Bank. Emcees were Tim Knox, a local entrepreneur and author of "Everything I Know About Business I Learned from My Mama" and Lisa Washington, co-host of WHNT's "NewsChannel 19 This Morning."