The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce announced the winner of the 2023 W. Curtis Strube Small Business Award this afternoon.
Kare Health & Wellness LLC, a functional medicine business from owner and founder Keri Sutton, took home the top honor during a ceremony at the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center, according to a news release.
“Keri Sutton’s small business story is incredibly inspiring,” chamber president Matt Morrow said in the statement. “By continuing to apply everything she learned on her journey to establish Kare Health & Wellness, she and her team have built a strong and sustainable model for delivering patient-centered functional medicine.”
Sutton’s search for answers to his own health problems led to the creation of the functional medicine business. The company, which launched in 2011, has 29 employees and offers functional medicine and nutritional services, intravenous therapy, diagnostic testing, integrative women’s health and non-surgical pain management, according to previous reports.
The Small Business Award finalists, in alphabetical order, are:
• Bug Zero, a pest treatment company founded by owner and CEO Ivan Eftink in 1990.
• Grooms Office Environments, a 46-year-old commercial furniture business co-owned by Audrey and Jonathan Garard.
• Jordan Essentials, manufacturer of bath and body products founded in 2000 by Nancy Bogart.
• Revel Advertising, a Springfield marketing agency founded in 2010 by Nicole and Chris Jarratt.
Last year, Cabinet Concepts by Design won the chamber’s Small Business Award, according to previous reports. Finalists are selected based on written applications that include essays on company history, management philosophy, responses to challenges, innovation in product and service offerings, and contributions to the community, according to a press release An independent panel of judges scores the entries.
