Cobb Chamber honors its Top 30 Small Businesses of the Year, the Small Business Hall of Fame and the 2021 Businesses to Watch.
On May 10th, the Cobb Chamber named CROFT & Associates the 2021 Small Business of the Year at the its Small Business of the Year Awards event, presented by LOUD Security Systems, Inc. and S.A. White Oil Company.
Established in 2004, CROFT & Associates is an award-winning, national, multi-disciplinary architecture and engineering firm that serves clients across diverse public and private sectors. Licensed in 42 states, but with active projects around the world, its key market sectors include education, church, local and state government, federal, mission critical, industrial and commercial, mixed use, hospitality, retail and residential.
“We attribute our business success to the daily pursuit of our mission and a commitment to our values,” shared Stacey Chapman, Vice President of CROFT, in the company’s Small Business of the Year Awards application. “We are dedicated to utilizing our insight to create sustainable solutions that capture each client’s vision while providing an environment that grows our people and positively impacts our community.”
The CROFT team is dedicated to finding the best possible solution for its clients, partners and employees’ needs, which has created a culture that breeds creativity and ingenuity. Over the years, CROFT has evolved its services and practices to help seamlessly bridge the design side with construction. CROFT project managers guide designs through the build process and maintain engagement with the construction team through the project’s finish. This practice is not typical for the industry and has become a CROFT signature.
A local standout project for the CROFT team in 2020 was Cobb County’s Fire Station #7. CROFT provided full architectural and engineering design on the 17,200 sq. ft. fire station, which will serve as Cobb Fire’s primary technical training facility for rope and climbing rescue. This facility is being constructed as a replacement on the current site of the existing fire station #7, which has served the surrounding community for over 40 years.
Other recent projects included the Cobb County Health Department, Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office, Cobb County Police Headquarters at Point Cloud, Cobb County Fire Annex, Tim D. Lee Cobb County Senior Center, North Cobb Christian Upper School, the Cobb County Police Vehicle Evidence Center and the Kennesaw Recreation Center.
As the Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year, CROFT & Associates will compete in the state’s small business of the year competition.
Competitive Application and Selection Process
To be considered for the Top 30 Small Businesses of Year, each hopeful candidate submits an application to the Cobb Chamber. The applicants must prove an increase in sales or unit volume, provide examples of innovation, discuss adversity and challenges, and thoroughly detail their community involvement. Applications are analyzed and considered by a group of independent community business leaders and affiliates of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
After all of the submitted applications are judged and rated, five finalists are selected based on their numerical score. The five finalists are then put through a second step in the application process – a site visit by an independent panel of judges. The visit is meant to be a fresh, in-person opportunity to present the ideals, practices, values and day-to-day operations discussed in their initial application.
2021 Top 30 Small Businesses of the Year
The Cobb Chamber honored the following Top 30 Small Businesses at the 2021 Small Business of the Year Awards:
| 41South Creative | Innovation Compounding |
| All Roof Solutions, Inc. | InPrime Legal |
| AQC Traffic Control Services, LLC | Manay CPA, Inc. |
| CFO Navigator | Mills Specialty Metals, LLC |
| CROFT & Associates | Powers Electrical Solutions, Inc. |
| Darden & Company | Priority Jet, LLC |
| Deluxe Athletics, LLC | Prodew, Inc. |
| DynamiX | RE/MAX PURE |
| Eclipse Networks | SK Commercial Realty |
| Four Hats, Inc. | SpeedPro Marietta |
| Georgia Trade School | The Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team |
| Governors Gun Club | The Partnership of Atlanta, Inc. |
| GreenMellen | The UPS Store Smyrna |
| Henry’s Louisiana Grill, Inc. | Win-Tech, Inc. |
| HR Knowledge Source | Yalo! |
Small Business Hall of Fame
The 2020 Small Business of the Year, Three-13 Salon, Spa & Boutique, was also honored during the awards program. The reigning small business of the year is inducted into the Small Business Hall of Fame, which includes all county and state winners of the Small Business of the Year award from Cobb County since 1982. The full list of Small Business Hall of Fame honorees can be found at www.cobbchamber.org/sboy.
2021 Businesses to Watch
In order to recognize the impressive accomplishments of many new Cobb businesses, the Cobb Chamber expanded its Small Business of the Year program to include the Businesses To Watch awards presentation. These are businesses that have launched less than three years ago and have already achieved substantial growth. The 2021 Businesses To Watch are:
- Abernathy Ditzel Hendrick Bryce, LLC
- American Axes
- Neighborhood Cuisine & Provisions
- The Dwell Collective
Sponsors for the 2021 Small Businesses of the Year awards included Marquee Sponsor, Superior Plumbing; Presenting Sponsors, LOUD Security Systems and S.A. White Oil Company; Businesses to Watch Sponsor, Comcast; Award Sponsor, Fifth Third Bank; Hall of Fame Sponsor, UGA Small Business Development Center at KSU; Gold Sponsors, Three-13 Salon, Spa, & Boutique, the Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team, The Partnership of Atlanta, Eclipse Networks, Manay CPA, Inc., Yalo!, and Play, LLC.; Silver Sponsors, Gaskins and The Service Fort; Host Sponsor, Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre; Catering Sponsor, Delaware North; Production Sponsor, Next Page Event Services; and Tables Sponsor, Peachtree Tents & Events.
About the Cobb Chamber
At the Cobb Chamber, we believe in the power of ambition. Through our wealth of programming and partnerships, we unite the region’s most innovative, informed, and determined people so that they can achieve more. And through our advocacy and initiatives, we ensure that our county is a healthy place to do business. While our members span industry, background, and experience, we share a common desire: to see Cobb County flourish. For more information, visit www.cobbchamber.org.
