EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine May 2020 | Page 29

Foreman said. “We’ve heard ‘no’ for the last twelve years, and we
are still here,” she said. “There’s always another door. You really
have to have patience.”
Their business became popular quickly, and they had other jobs
to keep them going while they saved money for a catering kitchen,
she said. Their determination made it possible.
But small businesses also help keep each other going. The
Foremans buy their produce at Perrine’s (a local vegetable market)
and get their sushi supplies from an Asian market on International
Speedway Blvd. “We try to shop locally, because we don’t order in a
large enough quantity to have food service deliveries.”
Lifelong Florida resident Jeanette Adams said her small business
ran into the same situation. When her family first opened the Port
Orange-based Alpha to Omega Painting & Repairs twenty years
ago, they purchased paint at the chain-type home improvement
stores. “But when it comes to giving us a discount, they can’t do it,
because we’re not big builders. Now we deal with Florida Paints,
a local supplier, for all our paints and supplies. They’re like family
because we’ve all been in the same business so long,” Adams said.
Small Businesses Have Big Impact
Small business owners care about their communities in a way
that the big box stores cannot. Jessica Foreman said Saute Kingz
has offered free cooking classes to local children, to help them
understand the value of making their own food. “We’re passionate
about what we do, and we’re trying to teach the new generation to
have a passion for it, too.”
Saute Kingz belongs to the Daytona Beach-based African
Leslie Giscombe
American Entrepreneur Association, Leslie
Giscombe, founder and CEO of the association,
said a successful small business—like Saute
Kingz—can also have another kind of impact.
"It’s important for the neighborhood and the
African-American community–for our young
people to see successful African-American
businesses,” Giscombe said. “That has a lot to
do with moving our youth forward. The impact of more successful
black entrepreneurs is not just on the economy; these entrepreneurs
are modeling success.”
Jeanette Adams
be proud of.”
Jeanette Adams of Alpha to Omega Painting,
said she also finds it gratifying to know her
small business is doing its part to help make
Volusia County a better place to live for future
generations.
“If we can make one house pretty at a time,
and then the next house on the block, and so
on,” Adams said, “that’s something our kids can
Kimberley Jace is a freelance writer and editor with
more than thirty years of print journalism and book
editing experience.
INVESTOR DEVELOPMENT & INVESTOR RELATIONS COMMITTEE:
PROVIDING A RETURN ON INVESTMENT
BOB WILLIAMS,
TVEDC SECRETARY
Vice President, Population Health
Business Development
Halifax Health
SHAILESH K. PATEL,
M.Sc., CPSSc.
President
Dredging & Marine Consultants
Team Volusia’s Investor Development and Investor Relations Committee is
actively engaged in developing strategies for welcoming more business and
community leaders to join the organization. Committee members identify
and research potential new investors and participate in presenting events
that engage investors and provide popular networking forums. They work to
achieve strong representation by private sector investors and ensure private
sector funding is in balance with public sector support. Committee members
also work to achieve high levels of investor engagement and in the process
retain existing investors.
TeamVolusiaEDC.com 386.265.6332