Attics to Basements was honored to receive the 2019 Small Business of the Year award from the Elk River Chamber of Commerce this past year. Below is the nomination letter that was submitted as part of the selection process……
I nominate “Attics to Basements Building and Renovations” and David Vinje for this year’s “Business of the Year” award. First, I want to say that I recognize that this award typically goes to larger businesses, ones with higher visibility as major employers and deep-pockets contributors within the community. Those businesses have all been worthy honorees and valuable community members. That having been said I want to draw your attention to the other end of the business spectrum, the small personal businesses that make up the bulk of our Chamber members. My nomination aims to recognize one of the fine “one-man” enterprises which are the backbone of much of our economy, and our Chamber. This year I encourage the Chamber to recognize a small business that truly epitomizes what American enterprise is supposed to embody, namely quality, value, corporate-citizenship, community involvement, sound business practices and personal honesty and integrity.
I have known David for years as both a chamber member and community member. I have worked with him on various events and committees and have come to know him as a friend as well as a business associate. In 2017 Tanna and I engaged David in a building project which was very important to us. We were delighted that this project was an unqualified success. The building came in on-time, on-spec, and on-budget, which is both the “gold standard” for what you want in a contractor and a relatively scarce outcome! We could not have been happier with our association with Attics to Basements.
But wait, there’s more! In July 2018 we suffered a major flood incident at our business, and so in the midst of our house project I called on Attics to Basements to do emergency flood remediation on two levels of a secured building. Once again David grabbed hold of the project and made it happen, and the result is beautiful. So that’s three times that I have been a client of David’s in the course of about 20 months. A “normal” project, a “crisis” project, and a “business” project, and David has scored 3 out of three on-time, on- spec, and on-budget results. Three quality outcomes. Three great experiences.But there is more to my nomination than my personal experiences. I have known David as a Chamber member for a long time, and have witnessed his involvement, commitment, and leadership in both Chamber and community activities. He gives his time and talent. He has been a tireless booster for the Chamber. He has made the Chamber stronger. He has made the community stronger. He has been and done exactly what we all say we want to see in a chamber member, and in my view the Chamber and all its members should look to David as a model of what we want small businesses, and small business people, to be.