SBA Nevada Small Business Awards

Some companies being honored at the 2014 SBA Nevada Small Business Awards sell goods or services, and some work behind the scenes to help businesses grow.

But all of the entrepreneurs and champions of economic development in Nevada receiving awards came from modest beginnings, and all of them are committed to their communities.

Whether selling probiotic health food drinks, cleaning carpets or creating a digital strategy for a major company, the founders of these companies started them in homes and small offices, and expanded them with hard work.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is teaming up with Vegas PBS to celebrate these outstanding small businesses and accomplished entrepreneurs for the third consecutive year.

The event will highlight the diverse faces and stories behind Nevada’s small businesses. Honors include Nevada Small-Business Persons of the Year, Minority-Owned Business of the Year, Women-Owned Business of the Year, Family-Owned Business of the Year, Veteran-Owned Business of the Year, Rural Business of the Year, Microenterprise Business of the Year and the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award.

The ceremony will highlight the top small-business lenders from 2013.

The nominees were judged on their staying power, growth in the number of employees and increases in sales. An independent panel of business leaders analyzed the companies’ financial reports, responses to obstacles, community-oriented projects and small-business advocacy. They examined their products and services for innovation.

The U.S. Small Business Administration was created in 1953 and has a presence throughout the nation, including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. The organization’s mission is to aid American entrepreneurs as an independent agency of the federal government.

The ceremony and luncheon will follow on the heels of the SBA’s National Small Business Week, May 12-16.

The organization has promoted small-business development through the weeklong awareness campaign since 1963.

The 2014 SBA Nevada Small Business Awards will be at the Gold Coast Hotel at 11:30 a.m. May 22.

SMALL-BUSINESS PERSON(S) OF THE YEAR

Noble Studios began a little more than 10 years ago as a home business with two employees.

But Jarrod Lopiccolo, Season Lopiccolo and Michael Thomas grew the digital marketing firm into a multimillion-dollar company with 38 employees and a client roster of heavyweight companies such as Barnes & Noble, Verizon and Paramount Pictures.

The Carson City firm moved to a 9,000-square-foot office in Reno in 2011 and boasts an average revenue growth rate of 50 percent. In the past three years, the company has received more than 70 industry awards. All three partners are “Twenty Under 40” award winners.

Last year, Season Lopiccolo was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Reno Gazette-Journal, and Jarrod Lopiccolo was honored as Technology Entrepreneur of the year by NCET.

There may be some important lessons to learn from their success.

For example, the firm focused on digital spaces such as social media and mobile. Thomas and the Lopiccolos are quickly becoming experts on digital strategy and marketing. Thomas has appeared on MSNBC’s “Your Business” and the partners have spoken for the American Marketing Association, the Public Relations Society of America and the Nevada Tourism Commission.

The firm strives to connect with the community. Noble Studios has staffers in 19 board and committee positions in Northern Nevada. The company donates and volunteers to various charities. This year, it started a program to offer free services to deserving Nevada nonprofit groups and startups.

And the firm seems devoted to Nevada. The Lopiccolos received their bachelor degrees from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. They partnered with a local university to lure in tech-minded students and designed websites for economic development companies to promote Nevada as a great place to do business.

MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

Joyce Dawson started working for the Sonitrol security company as an alarm dispatcher in Southern Alameda County, Calif., in 1977, but today she owns and operates two Sonitrol franchises.

She started her Las Vegas franchise more than 20 years ago.

Sonitrol of Southern Nevada is an electronic security company, part of an international group of security providers offering burglary monitoring, security cameras, digital lock systems and fire detection services.

As CEO and general manager of Sonitrol’s Nevada operations, Dawson’s company blossomed to become one of the most successful franchises of the Sonitrol network, and is ranked in the top 10 percent of Sonitrol dealerships nationally.

Dawson started another franchise, Sonitrol of Northern Nevada, in 2006.

Dawson’s dealerships have been awarded honors such as Best Image, Best Sales and Outstanding Performance several times by the national Sonitrol organization.

Her hard work led to her induction as the first and only woman to serve as president of the Sonitrol National Dealers Association. The company has been named Minority-Owned Business of the Decade and inducted into the Minority Business Hall of Fame by other groups in the past.

WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

Donna Miller, this year’s Women-Owned Business of the Year award winner, came to the U.S. a little more than 22 years ago and did not speak English.

Today, Miller’s company, Life Guard International Fixed Wing Air Ambulance (also known as Flying ICU), is licensed in three states, owns and operates four aircrafts, owns a hangar at McCarran International Airport and employs about 50 people.

In the 15 years since Miller came to Las Vegas, she has built her flying ambulances into an international brand, taking on the Nevada Legislature and acting as an ambassador for economic development in Nevada.

Born and raised in Romania, Miller became a U.S. citizen, and in 1996, graduated from nursing school in Rochester, N.Y.

Miller moved to Las Vegas in 1999. Two years later she was certified in emergency medical services and became a flight nurse.

She started Life Guard International Air Ambulance in 2002 with another nurse, bought her partner out five years later and reorganized Life Guard International.

Life Guard International has developed a global presence and a reputation for providing aeromedical transport services to any kind of patient worldwide — from the convalescent to the severely ill or injured.

Last year, Miller shepherded a bill through the Legislature making it a requirement that all air ambulances and their medical personnel picking up Nevada patients for transport be licensed.

She also took part in trade missions to China, Mexico, Israel and Canada.

Miller has been active in promoting Las Vegas as a medical tourism destination. Last year, her company was one of five medical and wellness providers toured by health officials and medical tourism providers from 10 countries as part of the 2013 World Medical Tourism and Health Care Congress held in Las Vegas.

FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

This year’s Family-Owned Business of the Year says the secret of its success is in the name — family.

Aland Family Dentistry opened in fall 2007 with a single dentist, a dental assistant and a front-office manager. But Dr. Troy Aland and his wife, Lisa, have nurtured the practice, and this year, the family has more than seven times the 350 clients they saw their first year.

Aland Family Dentistry’s business stayed steady despite the recession. Although other doctors were seeing a decline, the Alands’ practice prospered thanks to the family environment they cultivated.

The husband-and-wife duo have devoted themselves to the business, bringing the family to clean up the office on the weekends and giving up family time to help with dental emergencies. They make sure their staff is friendly and they cater to kids. They give them iPads during procedures loaded with an app that explains what’s going on.

The Alands have four children, so they know what a visit to the doctor’s office can be like, Lisa says.

The Alands are active in the community. Aland conducts dental health presentations in schools, teaches students in a clinical setting and participates in a nonprofit program that provides quality low-cost oral health care for disadvantaged children in Northern Nevada. He and his wife both volunteer at their church and their children’s schools.

When their business became too big for their building, Lisa Aland began searching for a new location. The mother of four manages all the human resources, accounting and building maintenance matters, and last year she found them a 3,600-square-foot property, and oversaw the renovation of five operatories, a spacious sterilization area, private lab and a staff wing.

Troy Aland is exploring new technologies and using the elbow room to do more dental implant procedures. Lisa Aland is looking at the books and considering hiring another doctor.

“We take a lot of work home with us,” she says.

VETERAN-OWNED BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

Wilbur LaSane Jr. served in the military, with Las Vegas police and as a guard at Nevada High Desert State Prison.

But this year’s Veteran-Owned Business of the Year award winner will tell you owning his own business has been his greatest challenge to date. And the most rewarding.

LaSane, president and founder of Spit Shine, almost started a limousine company instead of his Las Vegas janitorial company. He knew he wanted to have his own business and had two business plans.

But when he weighed the startup costs, he said it was a no-brainer. LaSane started Spit Shine with $1,700, and has not looked back.

And why not? The Army veteran knows the distinction between clean and military clean. Spit Shine provides home and office cleaning services, as if his crew were preparing for a military inspection, LaSane says. They move refrigerators and stoves, work from top to bottom.

“With a military inspection, we get on our knees. You make sure everything is shining,” LaSane says.

And he is still making a difference. He is passionate about taking care of his employees. He makes sure they are well-paid and well-trained, so they can spend more time with their families.

LaSane recently accepted an outstanding veteran-owned business award from the Urban Chamber of Commerce and is proud of what he’s accomplished so far, but is still learning and makes the most of resources for small businesses.

“If you have information for me, to take me to the next level, I’m all ears.”

RURAL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

You may have never seen a bottle of Sierra Kombucha around town, or even know what kombucha is, but they definitely know what it is up in Minden, a small Nevada town just east of Lake Tahoe.

Mark and Margaret Jackson have been given this year’s Rural Owned Business of the Year award for their probiotic drink company.

The beverage is found across Northern Nevada and throughout California, and comes in unique, Southwestern-style flavors like Granite Ginger and High Desert Prickly Pear.

And although Minden is not exactly on a major trucking route, the Jacksons have found that Douglas County is a wonderful place to do business.

Margaret Jackson, co-owner and president, handles sales, marketing and administration. She said she’s always been a kombucha drinker. Mark Jackson, founder and CEO, handles production, finance and accounting.

The husband-and-wife team decided to take the plunge and start their own business a little more than two years ago.

Both earned their masters degrees in public administration, but found their passions in home brewing. Now they are hiring beverage consultants and are always looking to expand into new areas.

Sierra Kombucha is made from organic green tea that is combined with a cultivated symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, organic sugar and organic or all-natural juice.

Like yogurt, the probiotic bacteria in kombucha is said to boost immunity, enhance mood, fight allergies, detoxify the body and rid the body of disease. The drink is typically sold in health food stores, and is said to contain a wide range of organic acids, vitamins, enzymes and B vitamins.

Many kombucha drinks have a distinct, fermented taste. Sierra Kombucha’s success seems to lie in their brand’s balance of the cultivated tea and fruit juice flavors, and believe their drink’s lighter carbonation gives it broader appeal.

The Jacksons have their eyes on the Las Vegas market next.

MICROENTERPRISE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

The men behind 3D Film Connection, or 3DFC, moved to Las Vegas to corner the market on 3-D display technology.

Their crowd-funded enterprise is this year’s Microenterprise Business of the Year.

Microenterprise often refers to a small business with five or fewer employees funded with microloans and other nontraditional forms of lending.

And it is true that the team is only a few people. David Briggs and Nick Spriggs literally do the job of 10 men.

Last year, Briggs and Spriggs began production of the NEO3DO, a 3-D tablet that does not require any glasses and has the capability to transform two-dimensional videos, stills and Android apps into 3-D in real time.

Briggs devoted himself to 3DFC and the NEO3DO tablet in January 2011, and has since become an expert in 3-D display technology and mobile Internet device manufacturing. The 29-year-old Virginia native has worked in the Internet marketing field since 2006.

Spriggs moved to Las Vegas with Briggs after 14 years in San Diego. Before joining 3DFC in June 2011, he worked in the commercial mortgage and private equity field for more than 15 years and was responsible for companies with more than $500 million in revenue and more than 7,500 employees.

The partners spent two years and $100,000 of their own money before turning to Indiegogo for the capital to finish and cement their status as 3-D trailblazers.

But that was not their only foray into crowdfunding last year. During the winter holiday season, the men held another Indiegogo campaign to pay for a partnership with an area elementary school giving students the chance to learn in 3-D.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT AWARD

The only thing that brings Entrepreneurs Assembly’s John Moran more pride than his work, are the successes of others — the companies he helps, and the students he teaches.

This year’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award goes to the Reno nonprofit economic development group, Entrepreneurs Assembly, or EA, dedicated to helping Nevada entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.

As executive director of EA, Moran’s responsibilities include organizing the activities of the nonprofit, enrolling and training mentors, helping existing businesses, and developing a strategic direction for the organization.

EA runs a startup incubator, which is a place for new business owners to meet with mentors and make goals monthly, Moran says. They get homework every month to grow their business.

The nonprofit organization also holds a monthly round-table discussion for more experienced business owners to share ideas. The group for businesses open for three or more years aims to help business stuck breaking even or with low profits develop a strategy and expand.

“It’s a continuous process,” Moran says.

Moran insists on the importance of learning and systems thinking. The most important thing is knowing which systems we’re a part of and how they work.

It’s like the way all the parts under the hood work together to make the car go, he said.

To Moran, knowing all the steps from the time an order is placed, processed and shipped is key to efficiency and growth.

“The more knowledge we have about our environment, the more reward and growth we can achieve from that knowledge,” he says.

Nevada is well-served by Moran’s passion for education and professional development

He works with the Washoe County School District to teach kids business skills are important for every vocation, and guides graduate students at the University of Nevada, Reno, through their capstone classes with practical, real-world instruction.

To have a dynamic economy, Moran says Nevada needs a pipeline of entrepreneurs and skilled workers.

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl.