2008 Beacon Award

Patuxent River Naval Air Station is by far the county’s biggest employer, but there are hundreds of small businesses making sure St. Mary’s entire population and workforce is served, and served well.

That’s why the St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce takes time to recognize local chamber member businesses at its annual awards luncheon, held last Wednesday at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center in California.

‘‘All of the awards that the chamber presents are our way of recognizing the success of businesses, the qualities that have lead to that success and the integral part that [small] businesses play in our community,” said Bill Scarafia, president and CEO of the chamber. ‘‘The recipients of this year’s business awards all show the diversity of our economy and the important role they play in providing quality products and services, jobs, and support for our quality of life.”

Businesses were nominated by other chamber members for four major awards – the Lighthouse Award, the Beacon Award, the Emerging Business Award and the Community Service Award, based on slightly varying criteria for each.

Taking the hamperout of housing

Cherry Cove Hospitality garnered the chamber’s Lighthouse Award. To receive the award, a company must to be in business at least four years and have 16 or more employees, demonstrated revenue growth and job creation, have been recognized for excellence in their industry, have innovative products, customer services, management and marketing practices and have good involvement in the community.

Headed now in Lexington Park, Cherry Cove was founded in 1977 by Tom Waring with the development of several residential projects near Leonardtown. In 1979, the company recognized the need for affordable housing for military families and opened the Lord Calvert community in Great Mills. In 1983, St. Mary’s tourism was increasing and as a result, Cherry Cove built the Patuxent Inn, a 120-room hotel with a restaurant and lounge on Route 235, which the company owned until 1995. In 1985, the company built and managed Indian Bridge Apartments, a 112-unit apartment complex in Great Mills. Base realignment and closure decisions of the late 1990s significantly enhanced the economy, and Cherry Cove Hospitality embarked on a series of hotel development and management projects that would add nearly 400 hotel rooms to the region, like the Hampton Inns in Lexington Park and Waldorf, the J.T. Daugherty Conference Center and the Fairfield Inn in Lexington Park, and recently, the Hilton Garden Inn in Solomons, which was awarded the Hilton brand’s Ramp-Up Award for 2007. Under the leadership of General Manager Tracy Cloud, the hotel achieved 100 percent market penetration in occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room the quickest.

‘‘Cherry Cove has made a welcome difference in the community. [Waring is] really the driving force behind it. I thought it would be a testament to his leadership. He operates sort of under the radar,” said Ray Wernecke, Cherry Cove’s chief operating officer, who nominated the company. ‘‘If you ask Mr. Waring, his ability to provide affordable housing to the families would be his proudest achievement. He’s found safe places for people to live who otherwise might not have an opportunity for a place to live. He’s meeting a real need to NAVAIR to have a nice place to stay in the area. I believe [the award] was well-earned. But this is a prestigious award. It was pretty rewarding and validating when we were selected.”

The 230-plus employees of Cherry Cove also actively participate in Chamber of Commerce events, College of Southern Maryland and St. Mary’s College of Maryland community outreach activities, community development through activities such as National Night Out and Day of Caring, and revitalization projects with Habitat for Humanity, as well as environmental awareness and preservation programs like the St. Mary’s River Watershed, Scarafia said.

Printing to progress

The Beacon Award is similar to the Lighthouse Award, but recognizes a business with 15 employees or less. This year, the Printing Press Inc. in Leonardtown snagged it. This family owned and operated business was incorporated in April of 1978, when George and Pritzi Klear purchased the business from The Enterprise, where George was the general manager. The newspaper had been sold and their commercial printing operation was potentially going to relocate, but instead, they became Printing Press Inc. While operating their new printing business, the entire family pitched in for an entire year to build the company’s home on Courthouse Drive. Except for some of the major construction items like plumbing and electrical work, the entire facility was built by family members and friends.

Over the years, The Printing Press has made continuous upgrades and has expanded to provide everything under the sun, including newsletters, business cards, posters, event programs, and invitations, for example. The choice to focus just on St. Mary’s was a deliberate one to build relationships, not just customers, Scarafia said.

George’s death in 2004 placed the responsibility for the business with Pritzi and their son, Kerry, who started working there after school when they bought the business, and later, Kerry’s wife, Jill. Of the nine full- time employees there are three husband-and-wife teams with some employees having 23 years of service.

The company was chosen because of the pride the owners feel about the history of the business and the responsibility they feel to the community, including supporting various charitable projects like volunteer fire and rescue programs, the Lions Club, the 7th District Optimist Club, Knights of St. John, Knights of Columbus, Special Olympics and the VFW, Scarafia said.

‘‘I had no clue we were even nominated for it until we got [the award]. We do what we can for the community when we can do it,” Kerry Klear said, joking that the company caps out on IRS charitable deductions by the third week each January. ‘‘We do a lot of that stuff at no charge. If we say it’s going to be done, it’s done on time. We’re very service-oriented.”

Sweet success

Anita’s Wedding Cake Company received the Emerging Business Award – designed to acknowledge a business that has been operating fewer than four years and has shown growth and met significant milestones than indicate future success.

Anita Kriner started the business in September 2004 with the objective to turn a person’s individual talent into a service business built on a quality product and personalized customer service.

The plan was to rent a professionally equipped kitchen for about five to seven years and build a reputation and customer base that could sustain the major investment required for an owned facility.

Within two years the success of the business was apparent, the timetable was adjusted, and the business opted for a leased building and built its own commercial kitchen. Even with a solid business plan, this had not been anticipated.

The wedding cake business has expanded to include specialty cakes at the request of clients. The customer base and revenues have doubled for each year of the company’s existence. Kriner is working to develop an internship with students for the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center’s culinary arts department. This initiative will offer students a first-hand experience in their field as well as exposure to the business potential in their career choice. Successful working relationships with other local bridal vendors, network marketing through participation at craft and bridal shows, participation as a vendor in wedding giveaways and receiving the ‘‘Best Dessert” Award at the Taste of St. Mary’s have all worked to bring attention to this business in the community, Scarafia said. Though all of this, there is also support for community groups and agencies, like St. Mary’s Hospital, Three Oaks Center, the American Red Cross, St. Mary’s schools, Chesapeake Charter School and breast cancer awareness programs.

‘‘The support of the community has made me feel like a part of the community,” Kriner said at the awards luncheon. ‘‘With a small business, you know all the hours you put into it to make it successful.”

Kriner said later she hopes to continue to expand her business, currently located in Lexington Park, to double her production during the next four years and hire new talent.

A generous mate

Outback Steakhouse in California nabbed the Community Service Award, which acknowledges a chamber member business that has been open at least four years and has shown an outstanding record of accomplishment in support of the community and in the chamber.

The restaurant opened in St. Mary’s in 1999 and since then has become one of the nation’s 20 highest-grossing Outbacks, with $5.1 million in average annual sales.

In addition to Outback Steakhouse’s sales achievements, it has invested more than $100,000 in efforts to benefit the community – not just in writing checks but in physically being a part of programs, Scarafia said.

These include the St. Mary’s Police Torch Run, St. Mary’s County Farm Bureau, Walden Sierra, Relay For Life, Big Brothers⁄Big Sisters, Mechanicsville Optimist Club, local veterans organizations, Chesapeake Charter School Alliance, Commission on People with Disabilities, Southern Maryland Child Care Resource Center, St. Mary’s County Elks, St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, Maryland Saltwater Sportfisherman’s Association, the Literary Council of St. Mary’s County, Greenwell Foundation, Southern Maryland Center for Family Advocacy and most of the high, middle and elementary schools in St. Mary’s County.

Several years ago the chamber wanted to find a way to support the scholarship program of the Business Education Community Alliance. Outback stepped up to host quarterly membership luncheons at the restaurant. Members pay to attend the event and every penny is turned into scholarships.

‘‘The plan is to continue support in the community as much as possible. The community has given back to us. It’s unbelievable. In these economic times, it is difficult because there’s not as much to go around as there was,” said Will Mantis, Outback’s owner. ‘‘But we always try to find a way to say yes. We really take this seriously.”

The awards luncheon was followed by time to view dozens of businesses’ exhibits, which gave chamber members an opportunity to learn about other companies and organization’s services.

Members could also attend free educational seminars in the afternoon such as a human resources roundtable, a Chamber 101 class, a Web site development class and a seminar on how to better handle personal information, taught by the Maryland attorney general’s office.