The Utah Small Business Development Center Network is pleased to announce recipients for the Successful Business Award for their promising startup or growth ventures.

All together, 142 jobs have been generated from the eleven businesses recognized for the quarterly award—representing service, retail, manufacturing, and high-tech industries.  The businesses include: Extreme Beam, a company that develops lighting equipment for industrial and military applications; Bio Green of Northeastern Utah, a fertilizing product and service that is safe for kids and pets; My Sister’s Quilts, a retail store; Tumblebus, a mobile gymnasium that helps young kids stay active, and more.

Through a network of business advisors and access to statewide and national resources available from the UT SBDC, recipients of the award have leveraged their business ventures through one-to-one counseling, mentoring, and training opportunities to increase sales and access startup or growth funding. 

A variety of funding streams have made the startups and growth ventures possible including project grants, state programs, loans, individual and group investors, personal savings and assistance from friends and family. 

Morrison Meat Pies, a historic food manufacturer in Utah received a $300,000 award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to manufacture value added pork products for wholesale distribution in the Intermountain West and for export to South Korea.   Zip Kit Homes, a startup in Sanpete County that can build and deliver panelized home systems throughout the U.S. received a $30,000 grant from the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) to develop their prototypes which have since helped the company sell homes in Utah and North Dakota.  

The 11 small businesses selected for the UT SBDC first quarter 2012, Successful Business Award are:

• Bio Green of Northeastern Utah at (435) 724-7481 or biogreen.com
• Construction Monitor at (435) 586-1205 or constructionmonitor.com
• Extreme Beam at (877) 579-7878 or extremebeam.com
• Morrison Meat Pies at (801) 967-0188 or morrisonmeatpies.com
• My Sister’s Quilts at (801) 810-3999 or mysistersquilts-utah.com
• South Valley Appliances at (801) 857-4594 or svappliances.com
• Spoiled Rotten Salon & Boutique at (435) 630-9144
• Tumblebus at (801) 458-8287 or thetumblebus.com
• Wagon Wheel Pizza at (435) 587-2766
• Reach (mobile application) at (801) 550-4523 or stronger.pro
• Zip Kit Homes at (435) 340-0804 or zipkithomes.com

The UT SBDC provides consulting, training and other resources to emerging and existing small business owners in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), the Lead UT SBDC Center at Salt Lake Community College, and other colleges and universities in the state.   To learn more about the UT SBDC program, please visit www.utahsbdc.org.