Katy Lesser, Owner of Healthy Living Market, South Burlington, has been named the US Small Business Administration s (SBA) 2010 Vermont Small Business Person of the Year. Nominated by David Blow, Jr, Vice President, Granite State Development Corp., Burlington, Lesser was selected for outstanding leadership related to her company s staying power, employee growth, increase in sales, innovative ingenuity and contributions to the community. Lesser s business is a full-service, natural and organic food store abounding with grocery, wine, cheese, local meats, organic produce, a café, a bulk section, and natural health and beauty products. From humble beginnings in a 1,200 sq. ft. space with only one employee and average earnings of $300 a day , Lesser grew Healthy Living Market over a period of 23 years into a spacious, 33,000 sq. ft. market, a staff of 130 employees, and average daily sales of $50,000. Lesser s sales for 2009 were more than $17 million.As the first Burlington market to offer locally-grown produce, Healthy Living was at the forefront of the locavore movement. Lesser s long-term relationships with local farms and farmers regularly provide Healthy Living with local fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, dairy products and more. The Market also acts as an incubator for small, local culinary producers and currently carries products from more than 1,000 Vermont producers.Today, the store s interior design is anything but typical. Before moving to her present location in 2008, Lesser carefully considered details ranging from lighting, color, and texture to physical layout and interior traffic patterns. She successfully planned and implemented the creation of a pleasing, non-traditional shopping environment. For example, Healthy Living s shopping aisles are arranged in a semi-circular pattern rather than the customary linear model. Products stand out in colorful relief, as planned, against a monochromatic background that recedes into virtual invisibility. Because she wanted to avoid a cool, impersonal atmosphere, fluorescent lighting was not an option for Lesser. Instead, she installed museum-quality HID (high-intensity discharge) lighting throughout the store and achieved an ambience of lively warmth and color. Also unusual for a non-chain food market is the development of a product brand, an innovation Lesser considers vital to her continued success. The Market now carries its own brand of vitamins and offers various products under the store label in both the Meat Department and Café.In the realm of employment, Lesser is also an original thinker. I am proud to hire many people who might not be seen as the most employable group, those who do not have college educations, or are single parents or recent immigrants, Lesser said. And yet, over the years many of them started as cashiers and have risen to become buyers and managers. I am proud and inspired to be able to give people a chance and move them up the ladder.The store also serves as a community outreach center for all manner of causes related to natural and sustainable living. Lesser s most notable successes include:· a two-month partnership with Spectrum Family Youth Services, a local organization working with at-risk youth. Lesser supplied five meals a week, all made at Healthy Living, delivered and served by Healthy Living staff to the kids at Spectrum;· a 15-year affiliation with the Howard Center s Project Hire, an organization that finds employment for developmentally disabled adults, one of whom has worked 12 years for Healthy Living; and,· a new and growing collaboration with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Project. Through the Resettlement Project, Lesser says she hired someone right off the plane from Sudan . . . . he worked at Healthy Living from the day he arrived in the U.S., went to the University of Vermont and graduated in five years . . . . since then we have continued to work with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Project.Healthy Living makes charitable contributions too numerous to list. A few donation recipients from 2009 include Women Helping Battered Women, Lund Family Center, Humane Society of Chittenden County, Spectrum, King St. Youth Center, NOFA VT, Peace and Justice Center, and many more.Lesser has demonstrated determination and courage in the face of repeated challenge. In 1986, after eight years of staying home to care for her two young children, Katy Lesser opened the door to a radical shift in her life. With funding from a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed loan, she and her then-husband purchased Healthy Living Market, a 1,200 sq. ft. natural foods store that had been operating just over a year. Lesser had no business experience but believed her enthusiasm for good nutrition, food, and people would make the difference.Two days after taking over the store, Lesser was shocked to learn they had inherited $10,000 in accounts payable, a fact previously unknown to them. At that time, Healthy Living Market s small customer base was bringing in sales of roughly $300 a day, and Lesser was struggling to make improvements. In a town of competitive supermarkets, Lesser found herself in charge of a one-employee store registering zero growth during its first year. Making matters worse, she discovered that her role as a natural foods CEO was taken less than seriously by the men dominating the food industry at that time.Lesser faced these hurdles, including a divorce in 2000, with strength and resilience. Over the first seven years of ownership, she doubled Healthy Living Market s size to 2,500 sq. ft. In 1998, she realized a need for yet more space and moved to a location offering 8,500 sq. ft.In 2004, Lesser began contemplating a major expansion and while continuing to operate the store seven days a week, she worked almost three years to design a new facility, find a location, obtain necessary permits and perform market studies. With funding through the SBA 504 program, Lesser fit up a brand new facility and moved into Healthy Living s present S. Burlington location in 2008.Following her divorce in 2000, Lesser bought out her former husband s share of the Market over a period of eight years. During that time, one of Lesser s previous landlords gave her an opportunity to learn how much grit she actually had. He took her to court over a $10,000 issue she believed to be unjust. She made a decision not to back down, and after five years of preparation with an attorney, won her case. When the landlord appealed the decision, Lesser went forward and won a settlement in the Vermont Supreme Court. This was a break-through event for me, a marathon process that taught me the power of staying the course, believing in myself, and working with people who are the best at what they do, Lesser said.Over the years, Healthy Living Market has undergone a significant transition, as has Lesser herself, having evolved from an inexperienced business owner to a respected leader in both the business community and the natural foods industry. She is gradually turning the business over to her two children, both of whom returned to Vermont following college and jobs elsewhere. Lesser s 32-year old son Eli, a graduate of Brandeis University, is currently Healthy Living s chief operating officer. Her 26-year old daughter Nina, a graduate of George Washington University and the French Culinary Institute in NYC, is Healthy Living s education coordinator and director of the market s newest venture, the Healthy Living Learning Center.As Vermont s Small Business Person of the Year, Katy Lesser will compete for the national title at National Small Business Week ceremonies in Washington, D.C., May 23-25, 2010. Ms. Lesser will be locally honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration on June 17th at a ceremony presented by Vermont Business Magazine at the Shelburne Farms Coach Barn, Shelburne, Vermont.The Small Business Award celebration will also honor the following winners of the 2010 Vermont Small Business Champion Awards:Kym Maynard, Vendor Liaison for LACE Arts GalleryCentral Vermont Community Action Council, BarreVermont and New England Regional Home-Based Business ChampionRobert M. Berman, PresidentInstrumart, WillistonFinancial Services ChampionBradley Quinn Page, Veterans Employment RepresentativeVermont Department of Labor, BurlingtonVeterans Small Business ChampionMark and Lauri Boyden, OwnersBoyden Farm, CambridgeJeffrey Butland Family-Owned Small BusinessStory by Kate Herrington, SBA Vermont.# # #
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