Small Business Exporter of the Year
Lawrence Michael McCown
Industrial Bolting Technologies, Inc.
Mike@industrialbolting.com
304-744-9489
Industrial Bolting Technologies, Inc. started in 2003 in Tyler Mountain, West Virginia by Mike McCrown. McCown created The Torsion X brand and hydraulic tools. These high-quality tools are sold domestically and internationally. Recently, Industrial Bolting Technologies, Inc. was just named “Small Business Exporter Of The Year” by the United States Small Business Administration in West Virginia.
WV Family-Owned Small Business of the Year
Andrea Jean Bourdelais
Level 1 Fasteners
andrea@level1fasteners.com
304-697-2323
Andrea Bourdelais is the president and majority owner of Level 1 Fasteners, Inc., founded in 1959 by John E. Bourdelais and Jack Bourdelais in a garage in Huntington Park, California, now located in Huntington, West Virginia. Since its inception in 1959, Level 1 Fasteners, Inc. has produced high-quality fasteners for aerospace, defense, medical and oil and gas industries. They began in the aerospace community in Southern California, putting fasteners onboard the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft and countless space stations, satellites and aircraft.
In the 1970s, their customer base shifted from aerospace to defense and oil and gas. They currently have fasteners on most aircraft carriers and submarines built since the early 1970s. Level 1 Fasteners manufactures high quality, fully traceable fasteners. Traceable means that every part they make can be traced not only back to Level 1 Fasteners but actually to the company that forged the material that the fastener was made from. In the past three years, Level 1 Fasteners and its management company, High-Performance Fasteners, had doubled its revenue and is projected to double again in the next three years.
Bourdelais runs the business with her brother Ted Bourdelais, the shop manager, and her father, Jack Bourdelais, who is retired. Bourdelais is the current president and majority owner of Level 1 Fasteners, as she manages the business with the help and support of Jack and Ted.
Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year
Diana Lewis
Action Facilities Management, Inc
dlewis@actionfacilities.com
304-599-6850
Action Facilities Management, Inc. (AFM) is a West Virginia-Headquartered Minority Woman-Owned Small Business, Certified Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) and certified by a third party as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE). AFM, established in 2001, provides Government and Commercial facilities management support to clients in 11 states and the District of Columbia. AFM was founded and is led by Diane Lewis, President and CEO, who was the 2015 Minority Supplier of the Year Level III for the Tri-State Minority Supplier Development Council. Lewis was awarded on the Federal level of the U.S Small Business Administrations’ 2013 West Virginia’s Small Business Person of the Year. AFM received one of the highest honors from the National Guard for the company commitment to Veterans and was awarded the 2010 West Virginia’s Minority Small Business Champion.
AFM’s core competencies are facility operations and maintenance, predictive maintenance, repairs, construction, administrative support services and emergency management. Their entire professional team is committed to providing a comprehensive, low-risk solution to all facilities management needs.
WV Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year
Robert Antonio Alonso II
The Alonso Group, LLC
tonyalonso@wirefire.com
304-848-2138
Robert A. Alonso II (Tony) served in the United States Air Force from January 1985 through April 1998. After he separated from the United States Airforce, Tony relocated back home to West Virginia. He began working with his father, Bob, his brother, Todd, and his sister, Tish in the construction business as a Project Manager and Estimator. Alonso received his service-connected disability from the Veteran’s Administration in 2009.
In September of 2010, Alonso, along with his brother and sister, formed The Alonso Group, a general construction company that wanted to work closely with Veteran Affairs Medical Centers in West Virginia. With Alonso having a strong connection with his fellow veterans, he thought this would be a way to give back to his fellow brothers and sisters in uniform. Having a strong family history and experience in the construction industry, and being aware of multiple opportunities for general contractors, Alonso thought this would be a win/win for his company.
In April of 2011, The Alonso Group obtained its Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Verification from the Center for Verification and Evaluation. In February of 2015, The Alonso Group became certified as a Small Business Administration (8a) Minority-Owned Small Business.
WV Rural-Owned Small Business of the Year
G. Larry Omps
The Country Inn
glarryomps@hotmail.com
304-258-1200
A Morgan County native and entrepreneur, G. Larry Omps – accompanied by his sons Matt and Andy, who are an integral part of the family business – successfully bid on The Country Inn when the downtown icon was auctioned off due to foreclosure in the summer of 2013. Right from the start, Omps and his family, including his wife Barbara and his daughter Lara, believed purchasing the property was the right thing to do, not only as a business venture, but also in terms of what it would mean to the community and preserving a well-loved piece of local history.
The Country Inn is located in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia in Berkeley Springs. The Inn offers 70 unique guest rooms and suites, a spa, a full-service restaurant, a gift shop, an exercise room, a gallery room and conference facilities. The Country Inn was originally opened in 1933 and has since been taken over by the Omps family.
WV Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year
Alice Ann Friends
Friends Interpreting Services, LLC
fis@friendsinterpretingserivces.com
304-809-0325
Alice (Alli) Friends is the CEO, Owner and Founder, Deaf-Woman Small Business Owned business of Friends Interpreting Services, LLC, which provides American Sign Language Interpreting services in several states. Alli earned her BA Degree in Elementary Education from Gallaudet. She also earned her Masters Degree from McDaniel College (formerly known as Western Maryland College). Alli is married to her amazing husband, Richard, and together they have four children (two sets of twins) and pets.
Alli wants to see that deaf communities get effective communication in any situation, anywhere and anytime!
SHOW NOTES: Part 2
- 1:41 Mike McCown | Industrial Bolting Technologies, Inc. | SB Exporter of the Year
- 10:00 Andrea Bourdelais | Level 1 Fasteners | WV Family-Owned SB of the Year
- 18:30 Diana Lewis | Action Facilities Management, Inc | SB Prime Contractor of the Year
- 31:34 Outro