Mobile Chamber Honors Manufacturer, Small Business and Innovation Leaders for 2014

The Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce honored three companies and one longtime volunteer during its annual awards presentation, recognizing standout performance and community involvement over the past year.

Company Honors: Manufacturer, Service and Innovation

The awards were announced during a joint meeting of the Chamber’s governing board of directors, board of advisers and economic development investors. Satsuma-based Mitternight Inc. took home the Manufacturer of the Year honor. What began in 1927 as a boiler repair shop has grown into a manufacturer of complex vessels for the chemical and petroleum industries, counting Fortune 500 companies such as DuPont, Dow Chemical and Royal Dutch Shell among its clients. The company was recognized earlier in the year by Gov. Robert Bentley for its work in international trade and has invested more than $250,000 in its 18-acre facility, while partnering with workforce groups AIDT and Mobile Works on recruiting and training.

The Corporate Community Service Award, presented jointly by the Junior League of Mobile and the Chamber, went to the State Farm Makeda Nichols Agency. Despite being an eight-person office, the agency’s volunteer footprint included organizing the long-running Purse with Purpose fundraiser started by agency owner Makeda Nichols a decade earlier, supporting revitalization efforts along Skyline and U.S. 90, participating in breast cancer and diabetes awareness walks, taking part in Bellingrath Gardens’ Balloon Glow and helping repair a storm-damaged church.

The University of South Alabama’s Coastal Innovation Hub earned the Innovator of the Year award in just its first full year of operation. The 10,000-square-foot facility, billed as the only high-tech business incubator between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida, has housed as many as 25 startup companies at a time, with roughly half of its activity coming from non-university-affiliated ventures. Tenants have access to consulting, professional networking, lab space, conference rooms and university resources as they work to bring new technology to market.

Volunteer of the Year

Kathy Williams, a professional recruiter with locally owned staffing firm J.W. Legacy, received the Ambassador of the Year award for her volunteer work with the Chamber’s Ambassadors program. In her first year volunteering, Williams was named Ambassador of the Month twice, helped with ribbon-cutting ceremonies and networking events, and took an active role in the Chamber’s annual fundraising drive.