THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 5, 1995 TAG: 9505050558
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
The Small Business of the Year award was given Thursday to Kitty Hawk Kites, founded by a former engineer who gambled 21 years ago that he could make a living on the Outer Banks.
John Harris, now 47, gave up a job as a Western Electric engineer to start the company in the shadow of Jockey's Ridge, and he said after being cited that his philosophy was to ``take care of your customers, and take care of your people.''
``We couldn't have won this award without the help of a lot of people,'' said Harris, who introduced the company employees at the annual awards banquet in the Penguin Isle Restaurant: ``Bruce Weaver, Jayne Depanfilis, Kip Tabb, Nancy Figiel and Anna Potter.''
The award was presented on behalf of Hutchins Allen & Co. CPAs, and the other co-sponsors of the 4th annual banquet, the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce and SCORE Chapter 497.
Other finalists were Birthday Suits, Browning Artworks Lmt., Crafter's Gallery, Gray's Family Department store, and Seamark Foods.
The criteria used to select the finalists included financial stability, community involvement and concern for employees.
Kitty Hawk Kites was praised for its 21-year history, its support for a variety of Outer Banks nonprofit activities, and the bonus plan, profit-sharing and stock options given its employees.
Featured speaker at the luncheon was Frank Batten Jr. of Norfolk, the president and publisher of The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.
Batten pointed out that large companies have felt the financial crunch in the 1990s and have turned to a variety of techniques used by small businesses to succeed.
One of the ways The Virginian-Pilot has met the challenge, Batten told the crowd of more than 100, was to push power down to teams similar in size to the staffs of small businesses. by CNB