14 minute read
By Gus Wintzell
A Conversation with Richard’s Lighting
By Gus Wintzell Photo by Steve Babin
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Sit Down With Success is a feature of the Huntsville Business Journal on entrepreneurs and their keys to success. To read the full story, please visit the Huntsville Business Journal website.
In 1963, Richard and Baraba Lapidus made the life changing decision to move to Huntsville and open a lighting business. At the time, Huntsville was undergoing one of its first explosive growths that would help define the image of the once small town for decades to come.
Compared to Birmingham, the city of Huntsville would offer up new challenges and risks for the Lapidus family. These same challenges and risks, from establishing a healthy work-life balance to adapting to the ever-changing economic demands of the economy, would ultimately help define the style of business that Richard’s Lighting would pursue, and also lead to the same great success that the small business still maintains to this day.
Richard Lapidus would eventually pass the business on to his sons. While his eldest son, John Lapidus, found success elsewhere and would eventually return to the business, his other two sons Mike Lapidus and Brad Lapidus eventually took over the business as co-owners.
What would you say is the secret to your success?
Brad (B): Paying attention to the details, especially right now when customer service has become so automated and so out of touch with the customer’s immediate needs. We were always good before, but we are really good now.
Mike (M): It’s not like you call here and you have to press three buttons on your phone before you connect with someone. Being hands on and just being available in person really helps keep people in our showroom and off of ordering cheap products online.
B: That’s right. Just be available.
What would you consider to be the greatest challenge of owning a business and how do you manage that?
M: The biggest challenge is adapting to various changes. The pandemic is a good example, and really the fact that a lot of retail space is moving online. One of the most important aspects of owning a business is being present and taking an active role in communicating with your team. And these conversations are not just between Brad and myself. We ask sales people, electricians, and outside decorators when they come in an important question: “what do you see here that we can do better?”
B: Communicating is really important, and having open dialogue with the community is really helpful. Our dad was especially good at that. He would invest his time into the community, and they would give him ample feedback that helped him adapt the business to consumer needs. It’s our core principles that help us adapt: staying present, paying attention to details, and learning what works in your market. What works in one city will not always work in the next.
What advice would you give to someone considering starting their own business?
M: Borrowing from our family’s slogan “Serving the Customer,” all I will say is this: if you take care of the customers, they will take care of you. The bottom line is just that. It’s not just about the sale and the dollar, but it is more about giving the customer the sale that they need, not the sale that we need. Everything else will fall into place.
B: I cannot really agree more. It took me a long time to realize how important this was. Our father is a great example. I truly do not go a single week without a customer, both repeat and new customers, that come in here and tell me “let me tell you a story of how your father helped me.” It’s this kind of legacy, stemming from this customer service model, that our dad left in Huntsville. He passed in 2012, and we still have customers choosing to shop with us because of the impact he made on their experience. w
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New Huntsville MLS NEXT Pro Club Announces Team Name, Logo
By Noah Logan / Photo by Noah Logan / HCFC
One thousand soccer fans packed Mars Music Hall on the night of Wednesday, November 9th for the brand unveiling of Huntsville’s new MLS NEXT Pro soccer club.
The club’s name will be the Huntsville City Football Club (Huntsville City FC), and is set to play their inaugural season in 2023 while playing its home games at the newly-renovated Joe Davis Stadium, the former home of Minor League Baseball's Huntsville Stars.
Huntsville City is one of seven new MLS Next Pro teams to debut in 2023, joining the other 21 reserve teams affiliated with Major League Soccer clubs. MLS Next Pro, launched in 2022, serves as the stepping stone between MLS and its youth academy arm, MLS Next, in the league's professional development pipeline. Huntsville City FC is affiliated with Nashville’s MLS club, Nashville SC.
During the public event, the voice of Nashville SC Tony Husband and local television personality Payton Walker, Huntsville City FC executives also revealed the team’s logo which was inspired by the City of Huntsville’s official seal and longstanding space industry.
Huntsville City FC’s logo takes inspiration from the official seal of the City of Huntsville as well as its longstanding space industry, which is home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Missile Defense Agency, and Army Space and Rocket Command, among others. The circular shape of the seal and rocket boosters influenced the circular shape of the logo, the shooting star in the middle represents the idea of orbiting space and Huntsville’s history with the space industry, and the checkerboard design on either side of the logo pays homage to the checkered pattern on the Saturn I rocket that was developed at the MSFC.
The deep sea blue serves as the primary color, bordered by rings of sky blue and also features a checkered pattern, a salute to the Marshall Space Flight Center, where the Saturn I rocket was developed. A shooting star wraps around the club's initials, HCFC, which sits in the middle. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle was in attendance. “This is a banner day for Huntsville as we welcome the new Huntsville City FC brand into our community," Battle said in a statement. "The Huntsville market is well known for supporting its sports teams, and we’re excited for this opportunity to diversify our offerings and add professional soccer to our portfolio. I’ll be the first to purchase season tickets and can’t wait to experience the matches in Joe Davis Stadium.”
Nashville SC chief executive Ian Ayre is also president of Huntsville City and will partner with managing director of business operations Chad Emerson to oversee the club's day-today dealings. Emerson is the former CEO of Downtown Huntsville, Inc.
“Today is an important milestone in a series of pivotal moments that will take place in the coming weeks and months as Huntsville City FC truly comes to life in this city and in Northern Alabama," Ayre said.
“We are really excited to finally share our team’s identity with the City of Huntsville and the world,” said Majority Owner John Ingram. “The energy and partnership we have experienced in Huntsville is remarkable and we couldn’t imagine a better place for Huntsville City FC to be.”
Tommy Battle also became the first person to purchase season tickets for the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro season. To follow his steps in becoming a Huntsville City FC Season Ticket Member or to learn more about the available ticketing options, visit https://am.ticketmaster.com/huntsvillenextpro/buy. w
How the SBA Can Help Your Small Business Succeed, Part 1
By Ashlyn Grey
There are countless resources to be found for local and small businesses, but the United States Small Business Administration stands as the lone go-to resource and voice for small businesses, to be backed by the strength of the federal government. The SBA aims to empower and motivate entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they often desperately need to start, grow, or expand their businesses, or even to recover from a declared disaster.
“SBA’s mission is to empower entrepreneurs and small business owners to start, grow, expand, or recover from a declared disaster.” “Specifically, SBA partners with the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and the Procurement and Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC), which are affiliated with the major universities of the state of Alabama, including the University of Alabama Huntsville, to provide free or little cost counseling and education.”
It delivers services through extensive networks of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations.
Megyn Rodriguez, Outreach and Marketing Specialist and Public Information Officer at the Alabama District Office for the U.S Small Business Administration, spoke with the Huntsville Business Journal on some of the many ways that the SBA dedicates itself to providing support for its namesake.
“SBA’s mission is to empower entrepreneurs and small business owners to start, grow, expand, or recover from a declared disaster. SBA achieves this mission through four principal ways: Counseling and Education, Access to Capital, Government Contracting Programs, and Disaster Loans,” shared Rodriguez.
Through Counseling and Education, the SBA partners with organizations around the country to provide training, opportunities, and education in their local area.
“Specifically, SBA partners with the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and the Procurement and Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC), which are affiliated with the major universities of the state of Alabama, including the University of Alabama Huntsville, to provide free or little cost counseling and education. This is beneficial to entrepreneurs and small business owners at any stage of development: planning, launching, managing, or growing a business. They host weekly webinars on key business topics,” Rodriguez explained.
“The Veteran’s Business Outreach Center at Mississippi State University (VBOC at MSU) serves active duty transitioning service members, and their spouses, as well as Guard, Reserve, Veterans of all eras and military-connected family members in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana”, shared Rodriguez, “VBOC at MSU also routinely make trips to the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville to host SBA’s Boots to Business (B2B): Introduction to Entrepreneurship, a two-day in-person course at military installations to transitioning Veterans. B2B introduces participants to key elements of small business ownership to assist in determining if entrepreneurship is a feasible and practical transition strategy.”
For those who prefer to learn at their own pace, the SBA has two free e-learning platforms that walk participants through topics such as planning, launching, managing, and growing a business. These classes are Ascent for Women – A free online learning platform for women; and Learning Center – the SBA’s Learning Center to start, pivot, or grown small businesses, which is available to all.
With Access to Capital, the SBA partners with banks, credit unions, and community financial institutions all over the nation to provide competitive business loans to creditworthy individuals who otherwise struggle to obtain a conventional loan. Small Businesses often struggle to obtain capital because they are considered “high risk” by conventional lending practices. Therefore, the SBA provides a guarantee to lenders to minimize their risk and ensure that more small businesses can get access to capital at reasonable terms.
Loans guaranteed by SBA range from small to large ($500 to $5 million) and can be used for most business purposes, including longterm fixed assets and operating capital. Some loan programs set restrictions on how recipients can use the funds so checking with an SBAapproved lender when requesting a loan is always recommended. To find SBA-approved lenders, the SBA
Lender Match tool is readily available and can be found on the SBA’s website, www.sba.gov. On the topic of Government Contracting, Rodriguez shared, “Government Contracting is huge in the Huntsville and Madison areas with major players like NASA, FBI, and many other federal, state, or local agencies. The U.S. government is the largest customer in the world. It buys all types of products and services — in both large and small quantities — and it’s required by law to consider buying from small businesses.”
“In fact,” she continued, “at least 23% of prime contracts must be given to eligible small businesses. How government contracting works is a process of requesting proposals, evaluating bids, and awarding contracts. Through its SBDC and PTAC network, SBA offers counseling and assistance on how to access your business, meet basic requirements, education on how to win contracts, and education on the different types of contracts.”
Additionally, the SBA’s designated Women’s Business Center (WBC), the Catalyst Center for Business and Entrepreneurship is located in Huntsville and specializes in several government contracting topics. While their target is women, they do provide services to anyone, and have numerous accelerator programs such as a HUBZone (a type of contracting certificate), Veteran-owned, and Woman-owned. Like the SBDC or PTAC, they too host weekly webinars and other events. SBA has numerous Contracting Programs that small businesses could take advantage of and participate in. For more information, see all available at Contracting assistance programs (sba.gov).
Lastly, in Disaster Relief, according to the Institute for Business and Home Safety, one in four businesses that close because of a disaster, will never reopen. For small businesses, the risks are high, and that’s why the SBA offers resources for how to prepare for disaster to mitigate risks in the event of all types of disasters: hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, hail, a pandemic, and even cyber security.
“Should disaster strike, the SBA offers disaster direct loans for relief, recovery, and future mitigation. Businesses of all sizes located in declared disaster areas, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners, and renters affected by declared disasters, including civil unrest and natural disasters. SBA disaster loans can be used when losses are not covered by insurance or funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for both personal and business operating expenses that could have been met had the disaster not occurred,” concluded Rodriguez. w
Local Chamber Honors Small Businesses
By Gus Wintzell / Photos courtesy of the Huntsville / Madison County Chamber of Commerce
The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber recently hosted the 37th annual Small Business Awards Gala to honor local businesses for their success in growing Huntsville’s economy and image. The event was held on November 01 at the Von Braun Center.
Key award winners of the event include Jonathan Hard of H2L Solutions, who won the Russel G. Brown Executive Leadership Award, and Mason Dixon Bakery & Bistro for the Women-Owned Business of the year award.
The list of winners include:
• Young Professional of the
Year: Kristy Powell, Cepeda Systems & Software Analysis • Nonprofit of the Year: Still Serving Veterans • Professional Services Business of the Year: NXTSTEP
Family Law • Emerging Business of the
Year: The Veggie • Government Contracting – Professional Services Business of the Year: Engineering
Computer Simulations • Government Contracting –
Technology Business of the
Year: Avion Solutions • Service Business of the Year:
Century Automotive • Medical Practice of the Year:
Johnson & Hayes Physical
Therapists • Technology Business of the
Year: Summit 7 Systems • Woman-Owned Business of the Year: Mason Dixon Bakery & Bistro • Russell G. Brown Executive
Leadership Award: Jonathan
Hard, H2L Solutions
Nominations for the above awards totalled close to one hundred companies and individuals. To view the full list of nominations, please visit the Huntsville Business Journal website. w
Pictured below: Mason Dixon Bakery & Bistro was awarded the Women-Owned Business of the Year (Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce)
