ASU’s business school held its 14th annual Spirit of Enterprise Awards in Phoenix Thursday, recognizing five local businesses from a pool of 200 applicants for their achievements in entrepreneurship.
The five businesses were selected for demonstrating ethics, energy and excellence in entrepreneurship.
Gary Pfeffer, a spokesman for Scottsdale based ClearComm Consulting, said this recognition from the W. P. Carey School was a sign that practicing ethical business does not mean forsaking profit and monetary gain.
“This event is a testimony that good business and good values can exist together,” Pfeffer said.
Arizona Air Boutique, one of the largest distributors of non-flammable gas in Arizona, was awarded the Overcoming Adversity Award for their ability to overcome the recession and a helium shortage in 2007 by broadening their gas offerings.
Angela Lepore, president of the company, said perseverance in spite of a rough economy and doubts from friends and family members was a contributing factor to their success.
Angela and her husband Mario, vice president of the company, are both ASU graduates from 1992 and 1991, respectively.
Gary Naumann, director of the Spirit Center for the W. P. Carey School of Business, echoed the importance of perseverance, saying that entrepreneurs must face challenges head on if they want to be successful.
“Just say, ‘Bring it, we’ll adjust,’” Naumann said to the crowd of 700 business representatives from across the Valley.
Naumann and the Spirit Center work through the use of Student Teams for Entrepreneurial Projects to connect business school students to new businesses and entrepreneurs to utilize skills learned in the classroom in real business situations.
John Martinson, co-founder of China Mist Brands, Inc., a tea distribution company based in Scottsdale that was awarded the U.S. Bank Emerging Entrepreneur Award, said entrepreneurs should not be afraid of a dwindling economy when starting a business, and that risk-taking could be necessary to help fix the current economic environment.
“A recession is a great time to start a business,” Martinson said. “Arizona’s economy needs you, so take the risk.”
Martinson said that he and his partner founded China Mist in similar economic struggles — the 1982 recession.
Other winners included Elontec, which received the Entrepreneurial Leadership Award, and International Cruise and Excursions, Inc., which won the Survivor/Innovator Award.
Maintenance Mart, a janitorial and facilities supply company, was awarded the Gary L. Trujillo Minority Enterprise Award.
Past Spirit winners include local businesses such as Coldstone Creamery, which won in 2002, and the inaugural winners of the award, Lavidge & Hiegel, a Scottsdale based marketing firm that is now known as the Lavidge Company.
Reach the reporter at Michael.reppenhagen@asu.edu
