At this year’s Fourth Annual Entrepreneur Power Luncheon, held Tuesday, April 26 at the Chattanoogan Hotel, the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga honored three local businesses with Entrepreneur Power Awards. The Hot Chocolatier was awarded “Woman-Owned Business of the Year”; CPR LifeWrap was awarded “Emerging Business of the Year”; and AB Property Preservation was awarded “Minority Business of the Year.”
The Hot Chocolatier, recipient of the “Woman-Owned Business of the Year,” opened in 2008 with Wendy Buckner at the helm.
The concept of The Hot Chocolatier became a reality when Wendy and her husband Brandon began introducing artisan chocolates, confections, one-of-a-kind sculptures, showpieces, customized favors, as well as corporate and wedding gifts to the public upon opening the doors of their first location in the Business Development Center along Chattanooga’s NorthShore. The business now resides at 1437 Market Street, across from the Chattanooga Choo Choo. The location offers significant retail space and seating for customers, as well as a streamlined transition between cold and hot kitchens. Guests are able to view the inner workings of the chocolate kitchen through windows along its outer wall while smelling freshly-baked pastries, coffee drinks and made from scratch chocolate treats.
This year’s recipient of the “Emerging Business of the Year” award is CPR LifeWrap and its inventor, Felicia Rena Jackson. With more than 20 years of experience in the medical field, Felicia currently works as a physical therapist assistant at Memorial Hospital. After the sudden and unforeseen death of a beloved family member, as well as a choking incident with her son, Felicia had a vision of a product that could help save lives. The CPR LifeWrap is a disposable CPR assistive device that provides simple CPR instructions, embossed hand placements and prevents the exchange of fluids. The product is a disposable plastic sleeve that covers the chest and contains an attached mouth barrier with proper hand placements printed on the chest. Felicia is currently working hard to make CPR LifeWrap accessible to everyone so that performing CPR is less intimidating.
The 2016 “Minority Business of the Year” award was presented to AB Property Preservation, owned and operated by Steve Talley. AB Property Preservation was founded in 2013 as a foreclosure clean-up service based on the idea of servicing and preserving foreclosed and abandoned homes that were popping up across communities throughout the country due to the housing market collapse and financial crisis in 2008. In 2014, the company was restructured to provide dependable, full service commercial & residential landscape design, turf & lawn maintenance and janitorial services to local businesses and residents. The company does this by using the latest industry-specific methods, preventive techniques and technologies to keep their customers’ properties well maintained and under control.
“The Urban League is proud to honor such remarkable businesses and inventions this year at our Entrepreneur Power Luncheon. We look forward to supporting the bright individuals behind these companies and watching their businesses continue to grow across the Chattanooga region,” said Warren E. Logan, Jr., president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga.
For more information about the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, call (423)-756-1762.