NEW GLARUS - The awards just keep coming for the New Glarus brewery.
Deborah Carey, president and founder of the New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, was named the first runner-up of the 2011 National Small Business Person of the Year.
Karen Mills, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), made the announcement May 20, during ceremonies at SBA's celebration of National Small Business Week in Washington, D.C.
Named the Wisconsin Small Business Person of the Year by the SBA earlier this year, Carey attended the event in Washington, D. C. but had no indication that she would be receiving a national award, said Eric Ness, Wisconsin district director for U. S. Small Business Administration.
"She was sitting there calmly, as they were reading through all these things about the first runner up, and then she realized they were talking about her," he said.
Carey said she is "not an awards person."
"I'm not the smartest, not the hardest-working. It's like the mom award," she said.
Award in hand, Carey was back home at the brewery Wednesday, teleconferencing with legislators and trying to explain the effects their ideas for taxes and laws would have on her business. It's just one of her passions, and as important to her business as sales, marketing and providing a living wage for her employees, she said.
Ness said the criteria used to select the state and national SBA winners include staying power, the number of employees and increases in sales or unit volume.
Carey said the secret to her business success is her tenacity.
"I think you can knock me down, but you can't keep me down," she said.
New Glarus Brewing Company doubled its number of employees from about 30 to more than 60, when it moved to its new $20 million facilities south of New Glarus in November 2007. New Glarus registered growth in profits of 123 percent from 2007 to 2009, and is Wisconsin's number one micro-brewery relative to sales volume.
Carey said she has added eight new employees since January and is still looking for more to staff the gift shop on site.
According to Marianne Markowitz, Midwest regional administrator for the U. S. Small Business Administration Markowitz, small businesses create two-thirds of the nation's new jobs each year, and more than half of the national workforce own or work for small businesses. Small businesses are defined as employing fewer than 500 people or by their revenue which varies by industry.
The National Small Business Person of the Year and runners-up were selected from among the state winners in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and Guam.
Rick Cochran, a Vermont manufacturer of state-of-the-art mobile healthcare and diagnostic units, was named the National SBA Small Business Person of the Year, and second runner-up was Leigh Kamstra, owner and chef of Roma's Ristorante in Spearfish, S.D., north of the Black Hills.
Ness said Carey has only been named the state winner and has yet to receive her Wisconsin SBA award, which she will get at the SBA and SCORE's awards presentation breakfast June 3 in Milwaukee.
But he added that there is no way she will not get the award.
"Not with her national award," he said.
Carey started the company in 1993, with her husband, Dan, as the brewmaster. They produce and market the popular beers Spotted Cow and Fat Squirrel as well as seasonal brews.
Carey was the first woman to own and operate a brewery in the U.S., and she developed her business plan for the New Glarus Brewing Company, including negotiating a warehouse lease in New Glarus, and a 6-month, no-interest, no-payment loan from a New Glarus bank to buy equipment, while she, Dan and their two children were still living in Colorado. The she sold their home, raising $40,000 in seed money, and moved them to Wisconsin. Investors and the Small Business Administration helped in those early years, also.
New Glarus Brewing Company established a reputation for consistent quality beers. Carey based her plan on developing a very loyal customer base. She set up beer tasting classes along with offering brewery tours, and the brewery started to take off, attracting notice from distributors.
Deborah Carey, president and founder of the New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, was named the first runner-up of the 2011 National Small Business Person of the Year.
Karen Mills, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), made the announcement May 20, during ceremonies at SBA's celebration of National Small Business Week in Washington, D.C.
Named the Wisconsin Small Business Person of the Year by the SBA earlier this year, Carey attended the event in Washington, D. C. but had no indication that she would be receiving a national award, said Eric Ness, Wisconsin district director for U. S. Small Business Administration.
"She was sitting there calmly, as they were reading through all these things about the first runner up, and then she realized they were talking about her," he said.
Carey said she is "not an awards person."
"I'm not the smartest, not the hardest-working. It's like the mom award," she said.
Award in hand, Carey was back home at the brewery Wednesday, teleconferencing with legislators and trying to explain the effects their ideas for taxes and laws would have on her business. It's just one of her passions, and as important to her business as sales, marketing and providing a living wage for her employees, she said.
Ness said the criteria used to select the state and national SBA winners include staying power, the number of employees and increases in sales or unit volume.
Carey said the secret to her business success is her tenacity.
"I think you can knock me down, but you can't keep me down," she said.
New Glarus Brewing Company doubled its number of employees from about 30 to more than 60, when it moved to its new $20 million facilities south of New Glarus in November 2007. New Glarus registered growth in profits of 123 percent from 2007 to 2009, and is Wisconsin's number one micro-brewery relative to sales volume.
Carey said she has added eight new employees since January and is still looking for more to staff the gift shop on site.
According to Marianne Markowitz, Midwest regional administrator for the U. S. Small Business Administration Markowitz, small businesses create two-thirds of the nation's new jobs each year, and more than half of the national workforce own or work for small businesses. Small businesses are defined as employing fewer than 500 people or by their revenue which varies by industry.
The National Small Business Person of the Year and runners-up were selected from among the state winners in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and Guam.
Rick Cochran, a Vermont manufacturer of state-of-the-art mobile healthcare and diagnostic units, was named the National SBA Small Business Person of the Year, and second runner-up was Leigh Kamstra, owner and chef of Roma's Ristorante in Spearfish, S.D., north of the Black Hills.
Ness said Carey has only been named the state winner and has yet to receive her Wisconsin SBA award, which she will get at the SBA and SCORE's awards presentation breakfast June 3 in Milwaukee.
But he added that there is no way she will not get the award.
"Not with her national award," he said.
Carey started the company in 1993, with her husband, Dan, as the brewmaster. They produce and market the popular beers Spotted Cow and Fat Squirrel as well as seasonal brews.
Carey was the first woman to own and operate a brewery in the U.S., and she developed her business plan for the New Glarus Brewing Company, including negotiating a warehouse lease in New Glarus, and a 6-month, no-interest, no-payment loan from a New Glarus bank to buy equipment, while she, Dan and their two children were still living in Colorado. The she sold their home, raising $40,000 in seed money, and moved them to Wisconsin. Investors and the Small Business Administration helped in those early years, also.
New Glarus Brewing Company established a reputation for consistent quality beers. Carey based her plan on developing a very loyal customer base. She set up beer tasting classes along with offering brewery tours, and the brewery started to take off, attracting notice from distributors.