Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Foster / Troy Carlson with The Barn Nursery at the company's booth Wednesday during the Chattanooga Expo at the Convention Center. The company won a small business award from the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.Award finalists
› 1 - to 20 employees: Dish T’Pass, winner; Communication VIP, AHS Consulting› 21 - 50 employees: The Barn Nursery, winner; Office Pride, Skuid› 51 - 200 employees: Ruby Falls, winner; MediTract, TPC Packaging› Nonprofit: Northside Neighborhood House, winner; Friends of the Zoo, CausewaySource: Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce
Amanda Varnell says she and business partner Sarah Hooper shared "a love for all things food" when they began their Chattanooga catering company and cooking school in 2012.
On Wednesday, that passion was cited by the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce which named their venture, Dish T'Pass, a small business award winner for 2016.
The business was one of four earning top awards before about 1,350 people at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
Other winners were The Barn Nursery, 21- to 50-employee category; Ruby Falls, 51 to 200 employees; and Northside Neighborhood House, nonprofit.
Varnell, who calls herself a Californian by birth and Chattanoogan by choice, said the business just hit the $1 million mark in revenues within the last two weeks.
Now, Dish T'Pass is on the verge of an expansion with plans to open a "grab and go" cafe downtown, the business owner said.
Slated for the ground floor of the 300 Building on West Sixth Street, next door to Dish T'Pass offices, the upscale convenience cafe is to offer sandwiches, salads and, hopefully, bottled beer, she said.
Varnell said the cafe is to debut in late April or early May, and it will hire four workers, pushing the small business to a headcount of about 10 employees, not including contract labor.
"We're hoping to double revenues after [the cafe] is open a year," she said.
Even without the cafe, the company is on track to see a 25 percent jump in revenues this year, Varnell said.
"We'll continue to grow," she said. "Sarah and I are all about relationships. The ability to form relationships with our clients and other small business continues to propel us."
Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger mentioned the importance of small businesses and told the group that the city and county need to improve the public school system.
"But doing so requires everybody in every community to stand up and recognize the problem and help out," he said. "We're certainly at a crossroads."
City Councilman Chris Anderson, who heads the panel's economic and community development committee, said small businesses are the backbone of the local economy.
"City government is committed to supporting our small businesses like never before," he said.
Bill Kilbride, the Chamber's chief executive, cited the award finalists saying that "It's amazing what we have in passion, intelligence. "
Chamber officials said an expo at the Convention Center drew about 250 businesses and entities.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.