|
The 2011 WBO Nellie Cashman
Candidates for the Nellie Cashman Business Owner of the Year Award are judged based on their entrepreneurial spirit, ethics and community spirit, financial management skill, and the difficulty and risk they have endured to achieve their success. Press Release.
Women Business Owners congratulates
2011 Nellie Cashman Woman Business Owner of the Year
.jpg)
Janelle Bruland
Management Services Northwest
and all our distinguished finalists
Jessica Bishop, StudentPainters.net
Rosanna Bowles, Rosanna Imports, Inc.
Lisa Chissus, CFM Consolidated, Inc.
Rae Anne Rushing, The Rushing Company, LLC
.jpg) Jessica Bishop
CEO, StudentPainters.net
Northwest born and raised, Jessica graduated from the University of Washington in 2000 and went on to immediately start up StudentPainters.net on the heels of working for a similar company that had closed its doors due to financial failure. Recognizing an industry-wide need for better business practices, Jessica and her co-founding partner revamped the model into a profitable business plan that serves to provide outstanding customer service while caring for its employees with extensive training, generous compensation, and focus on safety. Starting a leading Northwest painting company with her own savings out of a tiny studio apartment wasn’t easy, but since its inception in 2000, StudentPainters.net has rapidly expanded to include territories in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.
StudentPainters.net offers college students a paid internship opportunity to learn lifelong business and leadership skills. A proud “mama bear” to her StudentPainters.net family, Jessica has graduated hundreds of young entrepreneurs from the StudentPainters.net family management training program, and she continues to influence countless other young people through frequent speaking engagements at Northwest universities, entrepreneurial organizations, and community events.
Her innovation in entrepreneurship has earned her such esteemed awards as the Puget Sound Business Journal’s “40 under 40” in 2008, and Volunteer of the Year for the Entrepreneurs’ Organization of Seattle in 2009. Jessica stays involved in her community with PTA, StudentPainters.net family charity projects to benefit the local community and sponsoring career centers and business organizations at universities all over the Northwest. Despite all of her career success, Jessica insists that her greatest accomplishment is being a mother to her two children, Clara, 9, and Dash, 7.
Other finalists
.jpg) Rosanna Bowles
Rosanna Inc.
Rosanna Bowles is a Northwest educated, self-made entrepreneur. Marrying her passion for art history and a Masters in Italian, Rosanna began Rosanna Inc., a small Italian ceramic import business. Twenty-seven years and millions of dishes later, Rosanna Inc. has grown exponentially. Rosanna has emerged as a trendsetter in the homewares industry and established her product as an internationally acclaimed brand. Rosanna's essential vision is simple and clear: to help others create and keep their own traditions by using her product. Her dishes are sold worldwide and she has developed proprietary design work for the New York Jewish Museum, the Metropolitan Opera, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Starbucks Coffee.
Rosanna was a 2002 finalist for the Nellie Cashman. She has also been honored by Seattle Homes and Lifestyle Magazine as one of 100 top design companies in the Northwest and by the U.K. Giftware Association with the Gift of the Year Award - the first American to win the prestigious accolade. In 2008, the University of Oregon, Rosanna's alma mater, bestowed her with an alumni fellow award for outstanding career achievement. Rosanna's dishes have appeared twice on Oprah's "O List," and in 2008, O Magazine included Rosanna in an exclusive feature, "Women Who Make Beautiful Things." Rosanna pours her heart into her work. Her dishes remind us of what's important: to infuse our lives with ritual, tradition, and community, keeping home and family at the heart.
Other finalists
Janelle Bruland
CEO and President, Management Services Northwest
Janelle Bruland purchased a small janitorial company with 10 employees in 1995. By continuing to offer her clients additional services, Management Services Northwest has since become a one call source for complete facilities management, and is a now a regional employer with more than 240 employees. Janelle oversees all aspects of her company with her principal focus on strategic planning and business development. She is active within the industry, serving on the board of the largest international facilities services trade organization, Building Services Contractor’s Association International (BSCAI) and on the editorial committee for Services Magazine. She is also an author and speaker on industry topics.
Janelle is also an active community volunteer. She is a board member of Peace Health, St. Joseph Medical Center and serves on the Community Benefit Committee which provides resources to increase the quality of life for disadvantaged members in the community.
Among her recent awards are Fastest Growing Private Company, Best Places to Work, and the Washington State Small Business Person of the Year. Janelle is a lifelong resident of Whatcom County, Washington and is married with five children. In her leisure time she enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, golf, as well as keeping fit through various sports and activities.
Other finalists
.jpg) Lisa Chissus
President and Owner, CFM Consolidated, Inc.
Lisa Chissus is the president and owner of CFM Consolidated, Inc., a diverse manufacturing business located in Fife WA in a 75,000 sq ft facility.
The company has three divisions:
• Cascade Plastics, (custom injection molding, ISO 9000 certified & UL Certified);
• Flex-a-lite (high performance cooling products for the automotive industry); and
• MariSource (incubation systems for salmon and trout hatcheries).
Although the customers are very diverse for CFM Consolidated, Lisa’s leadership is not; she believes in treating her customers and her employees with respect and integrity. Lisa has been recognized as an industry leader in the automotive performance aftermarket, has been published in several national publications, and received her utility patent in both the United States and Canada. Lisa is also very committed to her husband of over twenty years as well as her two teenage children.
Lisa is the third generation of her family to work at Flexilite. She has been running the company for 11 years and fully took over the reins in 2006 when her father retired. She subsequently engineered the acquisition of Cascade Plastics and MariSource and combined the three companies under the umbrella of CFM Consolidated, Inc. The company now has a between 73 - 86 employees, depending on the season.
Lisa volunteers at her church in the nursery, coached girls soccer for 8 yrs and served on the Motor Parts Manufacturers Council for 10 years. These days her focus is on guiding her children successfully through their teen years.
Other finalists
.jpg) Rae Anne Rushing, P.E., LEED AP
Co-Founder/President/CEO Rushing Company
As a teen parent with a small child and only a GED equivalency high school diploma, Rae Ann entered the University of Washington system through the Equal Opportunity Program (EOP), specifically the Economically Disadvantaged Student Division (EDSD). Today she leads the Rushing Company a Seattle-based mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and sustainability consulting firm with 33 professionals. She also has three children, all adults: 29, 25, and 19, who are all college graduates or on their way to becoming college graduates. Her engineering career made this all possible.
Known for her straight talk, Rae Anne brings energy, expertise, and passion to every aspect of Rushing. Her primary focus is strategic planning and management of engineering and construction services. She is committed to making cost and constructability information available early in the development and design process so that important decisions can be based upon full and informed analysis. With more than 20 years in the industry, Rae Anne understands the necessity of getting clients into their facility on time and in budget. In addition, she brings big-picture perspective relative to sustainability.
Under Rae Ann’s leadership, the Rushing Company has become a diverse, multi-disciplinary firm, constantly seeking new innovative, collaborative, approaches to engineering and sustainability.
The Rushing Company is committed to community involvement, not just by writing a check, but also by rolling up its sleeves and giving generously of time, energy, and experience to many local non profits.
Other finalists
|
The WBO Nellie