especially today when we head out the award for the small business winner but first of all let me say thank you to him or her wonderful brothers as they always provide for  well good morning it is my pleasure to be here this morning representing consumers credit union and we are thrilled to be the sponsor for this morning's breakfast to show our appreciation and support of the michigan west coast chamber of commerce and the soon to be named small business person here consumers credit union has a vested interest in the local business owners and entrepreneurs in fact we are locally owned and operated financial institution the money that's deposited into our going to indian stays in our community in addition to local decision making we offer small businesses flexible lending options quick turnaround and a full range of products and services including lines of credit real estate mortgages business rewards master cards just to name a few lending is one of our greatest strengths and we are committed to providing the financing options that meet the needs of our community another way in which we work with local businesses is there are consumers at work program consumers that work brings financial wellness directly to your employees on your company's behalf we prioritize your needs and create a program to help your employees with personalized services free seminars on topics like home financing budgeting credit score colleagues joining me if you would please stand it you are here representing consumers credit union thanks guys that anyone is interested in learning a little bit more about consumer's credit union how we can help your small business or your employees at your company please come and talk to one of us at the end of today's program think goodmorning everyone a couple of items for your calendar six some great chamber events happening yet next week next week wednesday nov eighteenth and one of our workshops influencing employed motivation so that seminar university you can register on a website or just see somebody from the chamber staff will get you signed up and then we have a neat free lunch and over at the library at the next day thursday nov nineteenth one of our tech lunches and the content for this one is social media beyond facebook so if you're ready for what's next in social media come to that one as well and then to really meet treat for us today in recognition of this year's recipient of our small business person of the year last year everyone copy a complimentary copy of where city and country connect how the holland farmer's market grew from a few vendors to a community treasure this is my it's new book it's a history of the holland farmer's market so thank you mike for sharing this with everyone it's a beautiful b to find out what's happening with the michigan west coast chamber of commerce i kid you not it just posted when i arrived here and i had twenty new followers already direct messaging me asking me if they could give me a little hint of who beyond small business person of the year is that i really hate you or before you do that excited today to introduce the twenty fifteen west coast chamber of commerce small business person of the year this year's winner will join an illustrious group of past winners many of whom have joined us for this special announcement let me take a moment and reduce them to and now let me tell you a little bit about this award and the process of selection each year the chamber asks its members to nominate small businesses for the a war this year the request was communicated via email announcements and on line survey and the chamber space but page the results were outstanding we received more than thirty them in a sense for the award what a great testament to the business community in west michigan members of the small business person of the year award committee then met to review the list of nominees and determine which of the nominees were eligible for the award eligibility requirements included being a member of the chamber having been in business a minimum of five years and local ownership question years were sent to each of the remaining nominees each was asked to describe the history of their business the product and service innovations they have had history of growth successes and challenges that is based how it has responded to the economic climate political economic and social issues that affect it how it contributes to the betterment of the  deals with the everyday struggles of running a successful business and this year they were also asked about their sustainability efforts after reviewing the responses from each nominate the selection committee narrowed down the list to four organizations for further interviews these four organizations were each interviewed on site and let me tell you any of them could have been chosen for this award if you're truly blessed to have some amazing small businesses in our community let me take a moment here to thank the committee members who participated in this process and again please stand and hold so everybody's introduced patty a block from your past winner hans mulder michael is own michael hill jerry to me and jane clark thank you for the  after visiting the finalists the company made its the committee made its decision this year's winner leads an organization that has been in business since one thousand nine hundred seventy six in the past five years the company has more than doubled in size both in terms of revenues and in terms of production employment at the company has increased one hundred fifty percent over that same period of time our winner describes his organizations and ploys as its secret weapons their creativity and ability to express their creativity he describes the organization is having midwestern values that run deep focusing on the time craftsmanship patience and effort it takes to do things right the organization gives back to the how community in many ways including support of local nonprofit organizations through fundraisers participation and community boards and support for the tulip time festival the organization is also a leader within its industry without further ado i'm pleased to present the two thousand and fifteen west coast chamber of commerce small business person of the year brett vander camp president of