"I am so honored to be recognized by the SBA for this award," Kelsey said in response to the news. "It means a lot to me that our banker, Brian McCarthy with American Bank of Missouri, who helped me secure the SBA loan to buy out my business partners in 2018, believed in me and Influence & Co. enough to nominate us for this award."
The Small Business Persons of the Year awards are exciting because they celebrate small businesses, which are an important part of our economy and world. Just look at these numbers from the SBA:
"What an honor it is for me to recognize the National Small Business Week state and territorial winners from across the nation whose exceptional hard work has created and built successful small businesses," said Jovita Carranza, the head of the SBA. "These women and men not only realized their dreams of entrepreneurship, but have also been tremendous job creators, helping to expand our economy. They represent the 30 million American small businesses — our nation's innovators and risk-takers."
Influence & Co. is proud to be among this ever-growing cohort of American small businesses.
"I have learned a lot in the past nine years of running Influence & Co., and the most important thing I have learned is that the company is only as strong as the talented people I have the privilege of working with," Kelsey said. "That's why this award means so much — it's really recognizing the amazing team we've built and the hard work they put in every day for our clients."
Kelsey Raymond, 2020 Missouri Small Business Person of the Year
The Influence & Co. team is so thankful for Kelsey and her leadership as well. Her creativity and determination have spurred our company forward, and we're so excited that her hard work is being recognized.
To help you get to know Kelsey a little better, here are some fun facts about her, her entrepreneurial journey, and Influence & Co.:
On top of the honor of being named a Small Business Person of the Year, winners are invited to attend a virtual conference on Sept. 22-24, 2020: "Recovery, Adaptation, and Innovation." This conference is free and open to the public — just click here to register!
To see the full list of Small Business Persons of the Year, click here.
I'm a content-obsessed word person with a passion for finding the coziest coffee shop in town. By day, I'm the content marketing manager at Intero Digital's Content & PR Division. In my downtime, you can find me hanging out with my husband and son, reading a book, sipping a latte, drawing, hand lettering, or watching "The Office" for the zillionth time.