FOLEY — Two Foley businesses are Alabama Small Business Week award winners and were honored by the city of Foley, the Baldwin County Commission and the South Baldwin Chamber of …
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FOLEY — Two Foley businesses are Alabama Small Business Week award winners and were honored by the city of Foley, the Baldwin County Commission and the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce.
National Small Business Week is celebrated April 30 - May 6.
Christina Woerner McInnis of SoilKit by AgriTech Corporation was awarded the Alabama Rural-Owned Small Business of the Year and Sydney Cody of Vanguard Pacific was awarded Alabama Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year. Both businesses are based in Foley and are woman-owned.
"To have two of the four SBA District award winners from Baldwin County is outstanding," said Yolanda Johnson, business advisor with the Alabama Small Business Development Center. "Their nationally oriented companies are led by strong Baldwin County women positively influencing their respective industries, the business culture of the state of Alabama and the essence of our community life right here."
While their businesses are very different, McInnis and Cody share some similarities. For one, they both chose Baldwin County as their business home because of their deep roots here.
"Baldwin County is home. I am a bicentennial Baldwin County member, and I am raising my four children here," McInnis said. "Baldwin County is a really special place. You have the country, city, chamber and community cheerleading our success."
McInnis said she comes from a long line of entrepreneurs. Both of her parents and both sets of grandparents were entrepreneurs and farmers.
"Pretty sure that is where my determination and strong-willed personality came from," McInnis said.
Cody also has deep roots in Baldwin County.
"I grew up here. I moved away for about 15 years to go to college, join the Navy and understand what life was like outside of rural Alabama," Cody said. "I enjoyed my time away, but returned home to my roots because this is where my heart (family) is and what I love."
In 2019, McInnis founded AgriTech Corp. and created SoilKit, a scientific soil testing kit for homeowners and landscapers. When asked what motivated her to start the company, she said it was the 123 million people dissatisfied with their lawns and the industry does $100 billion in revenue a year. Her solution? A soil test.
"Let science tell you how to grow healthy as the farmers do. But if you are not a farmer, the traditional soil test is difficult to understand and complicated," McInnis said. "SoilKit has created a simple and easy way to connect science to product solutions that provide an action plan all year-round. The right product, right rate, right reason at the right time."
When asked what advice she would give other individuals wanting to start a business she said to connect with your local Small Business Development Center which is a free resource and participate in available mentorship programs. For woman business owners she said to get Alabama Minority Certified.
McInnis said winning the SBA award was humbling.
"I am honored to have the nation, state and local SBA recognize how such a dynamic company and product was started in rural Alabama and now is disrupting the traditional lawn and garden experience nationwide," McInnis said.
Cody served as a Naval officer in the Civil Engineers Corps for nearly six years, was the assistant resident officer in charge of construction for military construction projects, and completed a tour of duty in Djibouti, Africa, where she led approximately 120 Seabees executing various rudimentary construction projects across the continent in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
In 2016, she purchased 51% ownership of Vanguard Pacific and assumed 100% ownership in 2020. Vanguard Pacific is a government construction company with services ranging from green field facilities, renovations of occupied spaces, HVA, roofing, painting, protective coatings and disaster response. It is currently participating in the SBA 8(a) Business Development Program.
Flexibility and having no limits were her motivation to start her business.
"I wanted more flexibility and a job where the sky was the limit as long as I worked hard and persevered," Cody said. "My ultimate goal was and is still to start a nonprofit in support of underserved areas, specifically targeting children and making sure they have access to a good education and a safe and healthy home life. We hope to start the Vanguard nonprofit sometime in the next 24 months."
One of the biggest hurdles Cody encountered in starting her company was a bit of a cart before the horse situation.
"As a federal contractor, nearly every contract that you big on required you to provide three examples of past performance of the same value and relevancy," Cody explained. "I struggled to get the work because I didn't have the work in the past. It's kind of a chicken and the egg kind of thing."
Cody said the 8a program allowed her to negotiate directly with the government which gave her the chance to convince them to at least give her company a try.
"Once I got my first job, we succeeded and so we were awarded another. We slowly built up our resume from an experience perspective and within three or four years, Vanguard could bid on just about anything we were interested in the federal construction space," she said.
When asked what advice she would give other individuals wanting to start a business she said to look and verify before you leap and ask yourself these questions:
"Don't hire anyone until you absolutely don't have any hours in the day and then when you hire someone, cross-train them so they can serve many roles in the business," Cody said. "Run lean for years until you build up cash reserved and pay off any debts you may have acquired from starting up. Lastly, talk to your SBA rep to help you get in front of the right people and expedite your growth."
Despite running a successful company, Cody said that winning the Alabama Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year award gives her confidence that she is succeeding.
"Sometimes, no matter how high the revenues or profit, I get so busy working and making sure the business is operating efficiently, effectively and with integrity that I forget to stop and look around to see what I have built and how far I have come. Everyone should do that now and then," she said. "It makes you feel good and it motivates you to keep pushing forward. But don't do it for long, humility is paramount."
The Alabama Small Business Development Center State Director William Cummins said, "The small businesses in Alabama are accomplishing so much in our state and our nation. The Alabama Small Business Development Center and Alabama APEX Accelerator programs are honored to support these businesses in their journey to success."
For more information on the Alabama Small Business Development Center, visit www.asbdc.org.
For more information on the Alabama APEX Accelerator, visit www.al-ptac.org.
