Entrepreneurs Conference: Celebrating Small Businesses Revved Up for Growth

Abtron Associates Corp.
Robert A. Green, CEO & President; Roosevelt Green, Director of Field Operations
Bay Shore, New York
Type of Business: Environmental Contracting and Management Company
www.abtronassociatescorp.com

Abtron is an environmental construction company specializing in providing advanced remedial services in the asbestos, lead, mold, and hazardous material abatement and demolition industry. Robert runs the business alongside his brother who has been with him from the beginning. Abtron’s 2012 revenues exceeded $3 million. Clients have included the Dormitory Authority State of New York, Entenmann’s Bakery, and Barnard College. To support its mission and efforts toward growth, Abtron secured a $100,000 grant from the city of New York to, among other things, train unskilled and displaced inner city residents. Robert was part of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business cohort that graduated in January 2012.

JDT Concierge
David W. Thornton, President; Jennifer Thornton, VP Operations
Columbus, Ohio
Type of Business: Transportation and Concierge Services
www.jdttransportation.com

Thornton started Columbus-based JDT Concierge in 2003 as a one-man operation from his home. Today, the company is a full-service transportation and concierge services provider for private and corporate clients. Its services include medical transport, road trips to college campuses, and chauffeur services. David’s wife, Jennifer, joined the company in 2008 as a partner, and the couple moved the company to an office suite near Port Columbus International Airport. Throughout the recession, JDT maintained its staff level and even added staff, which now numbers 11. Clients include corporate executives, government agencies, social service organizations, and healthcare providers. Revenues reached $450,000 in 2010, $575,000 in 2011, and $630,000 in 2012.

FRANCHISE OWNER OF THE YEAR
This award is presented to a franchisee for outstanding performance and overall contribution in enhancing the growth and development of the franchising industry.

Lenny’s Sub Shop
Edith Kelly-Green, Multi-unit Franchise Owner
Memphis, Tennessee
Type of Business: Philadelphia-style sub and Sandwich Dhop
www.lennys.com

Kelly-Green is a business owner, a breast cancer survivor, and the largest multi-unit franchise owner of Lenny’s Sub Shop, a Philadelphia-style sub shop that’s based in Memphis but is expanding across the country. Over a period of six years, Kelly-Green acquired 10 Lenny’s Sub Shops in Memphis and in Oxford, Mississippi. Her shops average annual sales revenues of between $300,000 and $1.2 million. She runs her stores–two of which consistently rank in the top 5% of all Lenny’s Sub Shop locations across the country–with her two sons, James Kelly and Ryan Green. Before transitioning to franchising in 2005, Kelly-Green had retired as the first African American female vice president and chief sourcing officer for FedEx Express in 2003 after more than 20 years with the company.

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