Stacye Jarrell loves her job. And it shows.
The owner — with husband Lannie — of Oceanfront Cottage Rentals and Tybee Wedding Chapel is widely considered a driving force behind Tybee’s new image as a wedding destination.
On Thursday, Jarrell’s Oceanfront Cottage Rentals was named Small Business of the Year at the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce’s Business Expo and Awards.
“We love Tybee and we love sharing it with others,” Jarrell said. “To get this award is just amazing. To think that a Tybee business can get this kind of recognition in a city with hundreds of wonderful, creative small businesses — it’s really special,” Jarrell told the more than 300 people attending the event at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center.
Chad Barrow, who co-founded Coastal Logistics Group LLC with his father Richard in 2004, was named Entrepreneur of the Year.
In just eight years, CLG has grown exponentially, opening a 320,000-square-foot operations center in Garden City less than two years ago. With direct rail access, the center offers warehousing, bulk loading and unloading, packing, crating distribution and manufacturing support service.
The company has expanded to serve the Southeast gateway through locations in Savannah, Norfolk and Memphis. Earlier this year, Port Logistics Group - the nation’s leading provider of gateway logistics services - announced it will partner with Coastal Logistics to allow the two companies to offer complete logistics solutions at all major U.S. ports.
Jane A. Feiler of Metro Developers was named the Helen V. Head Small Business Advocate of the Year and JCB was the inaugural recipient of the World Trade Center Savannah’s International Business of the Year.
The Small Business Advocate award is named for late accountant Helen Head, the first chairwoman of the Savannah chamber and a strong supporter of small business.
Feiler, the first female president of Leadership Savannah and Congregation Mickve Israel, is a co-founder of the Chatham Commerce Club, a club established for women executives in Savannah in the mid 1980s to provide a network of professional contacts.
The World Trade Center Savannah International Business of the Year Award recognizes companies who excel in international trade, acknowledging the importance of global commerce to the region’s economy. It is designed to encourage and recognize exemplary corporate leadership for international business that advances relations between the U.S. and other nations, as well as creates quality jobs in the Savannah area.
JCB is the world’s largest privately owned construction equipment manufacturer. With world headquarters in the United Kingdom, the company opened its North American business and manufacturing center in Savannah in 2000. The 500,000-square-foot facility produces skid steer and compact track loaders for global distribution, as well as the High Mobility Engineer Excavator, a high-speed, fully armored backhoe loader currently in use by the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This year, the annual Manufacturer’s Awards were also handed out at the banquet.
“Manufacturing is vitally important to the overall health of Savannah’s economy, providing more than 15,000 jobs and an economic impact of $2 billion,” said Kim Gusby, morning anchor of WSAV’s Coastal Sunrise and emcee for the evening. “And their influence creates more jobs in such related industries as distribution and transportation.”
Manufacturer’s awards for 2012 went to:
• Weyerhaeuser — Environmental Excellence Award
• Billy Robinson, Port City Logistics Inc. — The Gulfstream Community Involvement Award
• Nick Pappas and Vasilis Varlagas of Olympia Café — Hospitality Award
• NuStar Energy Savannah Refinery — Manufacturer’s Safety Award.
The day-into-evening Business Expo and Awards Banquet, sponsored by the chamber and the Savannah Morning News also offered area businesses an opportunity to showcase their products and services. More than 100 responded, setting up booths and handing out brochures, samples and goodies.
“People do business with people they know, and this year’s event has given participants a chance to meet local businesses of all sizes and industries face-to-face and directly engage them about their product or service,” said Bill Hubbard, chamber president and CEO.
This year’s Business Expo also featured training sessions with nationally known speakers Peter Yesawich of MMGY Global and LeRoy Maughan of Franklin Covey.
Known for years as the Small Business Expo, the event was expanded for 2012, Hubbard said.
“Based on requests from our members, we decided to broaden this year’s focus to include each of our major business sectors — small business, hospitality, manufacturing — to recognize how they work together to drive our economy.”