Chamber Recognizes Business Champions during Annual Business Awards Luncheon

May 12, 2006; 04:28 AM
The Greensboro Chamber of Commerce celebrated the contributions of small businesses and its impact on the community during its annual Business Awards Luncheon today. The luncheon, sponsored by Carolina Bank and Workforce Development Board, was held in conjunction with the Piedmont Triad Business Showcase.
 
The Chamber presented the following three awards:  
 
David Moff, co-founder of The HR Group, was named the Small Business Person of the Year. Moff and his business partner, Patsy Wiggins, formed the company to provide small businesses with high level human resource expertise usually reserved for large organizations. The HR Group’s unique business model has put over 30 human resource professionals to work helping businesses with their human resource functions. Moff initiated and runs the “People Make the Difference” seminar series at the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and has participated in Leadership Greensboro. Moff also is very community oriented and has been involved with Goodwill Industries of Central North Carolina, Kids Voting, United Way of Greater Greensboro and Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women.
 
Justo Nunez, president of Leapfrog Marketing, was chosen the Minority Small Business Person of the Year. Nunez began his business in 1993 as a one person marketing consulting firm. Currently, the company has grown to seven employees and has tripled its revenues. Nunez serves on the boards of Kids Voting and the Volunteer Center of Greensboro.
 
Mark Hagenbuch, Director of the GTCC Small Business Center, was named the Small Business Advocate of the Year. Small Business Advocates are individuals who provide technical assistance to small businesses or supporters of entrepreneurial development. These individuals promote small business as a significant form of economic development and work diligently for small business success. Hagenbuch teaches marketing classes to future entrepreneurs at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and utilizes his students to benefit small businesses by teaming them up to help with marketing. He also is active in various community activities such as the Mental Health Association, Guilford County Child Development, Greensboro Merchant Association’s Small Business Committee, the City Minority Women Business Enterprise Program’s advisory committee and appeals committee as well as the Small Business Consortium. 
 
Also presented during the luncheon were the following:

The Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities presented awards to local employers and media organizations who advocate on behalf of people with disabilities. The North Carolina State Department of Labor Safety Awards also were presented during the luncheon.
 
Michael and Ramona Woods, ASHTAE Products, were named the Small Business Administration’s 2006 North Carolina Minority Small Business Champions of the year for their commitment to support minority entrepreneurship. The award recognizes the Woods’ for their efforts to advance minority small business interests and to improve economic conditions in the minority small business community. In 1995, they launched ASHTAE Products, Inc., which sells multi-cultural hair care products to professional salons and beauty schools in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Europe and the Caribbean. They have donated their time and resources to organizations like the Greensboro Chamber, University of North Carolina at both Chapel Hill and Greensboro, and at the Business Empowerment Seminars abroad.
 
Gladys F. Shipman, President/CEO of Shipman Family Home Care, Inc., was given the Women in Business Award, presented with the Women’s Resource Center. The company employs over 1,000 individuals and serves the elderly and disabled community across the state of North Carolina. Shipman is involved with several community organizations including the Greensboro Human Relations Commission, Ladies Sertoma and the North Carolina Care and Hospice Association, where she was the first African-American elected to the board of directors. She is the current president of the Greensboro branch of the NAACP and currently sits on the board of directors of the Sit-In Movement Civil Rights Museum.
 
Exclamations Catering was named Retailer of the Year, presented jointly with Greensboro Merchants Association.
 
Medical Justice Services Inc. was awarded the Nussbaum Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The company was founded by Jeffrey Segal, M.D., a neurosurgeon, who saw the need for an entity that would focus solely on keeping physicians from being sued for frivolous reasons. The company launched as a licensed product in 2002 and as a standalone business in 2004. In 2005, Medical Justice had a measurable single-year growth of 55 percent. Currently, Medical Justice Services Inc. represents more than 1,300 physician plan members in 47 states. The company has two issued and two pending patents. It is endorsed by numerous state medical societies, state specialty societies, and has been featured on National Public Radio and the Wall Street Journal.