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Best in the state: HMC Performance Coatings CEO receives state Businessperson of Year award from federal agency

By Shawn Linenberger - | Oct 1, 2020

Shawn Linenberger

Tom Salisbury, Small Business Administration Regional Administrator present HMC Performance Coatings CEO Amie Tripp-Bristol with the Kansas Small Business Person of the Year Award. Behind Tripp-Bristol his her husband and HMC co-founder Shawn Bristol. At far left is Jack Harwell with the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Johnson County Community College, and second from left is Michael McWhorter with SBA's Kansas City District Office.

A customer came to HMC Performance Coatings with a routine request: refurbish an antique bed frame.

CEO Amie Tripp-Bristol said that a few days after the project headed out the door, she received a care package of baked goods, along with dog treats for the family Weimaraners.

Tripp-Bristol also learned that the frame supported the woman’s childhood bed and she was utilizing the bed again — after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

“You never know who will walk in the front door,” Tripp-Bristol said.

She told the story at the end of a tour of the growing business recently. The tour took place Sept. 23 when the company was celebrating some big news.

Employees of HMC Performance Coatings gather for a photo Wednesday, Sept. 23, after HMC CEO Amie Tripp-Bristol received the Kansas Small Business Person of the Year Award from the U.S. Small Busienxs Administration.

The U.S. Small Business Administration awarded Tripp-Bristol with the Kansas Small Business Person of the Year Award.

The ceremony usually takes place each year in Washington, D.C. An award is given to one business person from each state and then an overall winner is selected. But this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, awards are being presented at the various business locations or other alternate ways.

The presentation coincided with National Small Business Week. A virtual national conference also took place.

Tom Salisbury, SBA Regional Administrator for Region 7, which includes Kansas, noted that native Kansan and former President Dwight D. Eisenhower created the SBA while in the White House more than 65 years ago.

He praised Tripp-Bristol and the HMC staff for their success and spoke about the importance of small businesses nationwide. They make up 60 percent of businesses across the country, he said.

Shawn Linenberger

HMC Performance Coatings CEO Ami-Tripp-Bristol leads a tour of the company grounds this past week as co-founder and husband Shawn Bristol looks on.

Tripp-Bristol thanked Salisbury, as well as Jack Harwell with Small Business Development Center at Johnson County Community College. Both have proved vital to Tripp-Bristol and her husband and HMC co-founder Shawn Bristol, who opened the powder coating paint business seven years ago in Tonganoxie’s Urban Hess Business Center.

She called SBA a “one-stop shop” for small businesses in utilizing resources to help their business.

“It’s been a good journey,” Tripp-Bristol said during last week’s festivities.

The journey, so far, has included substantial growth.

The company started in a 3,600 square-foot-space seven years ago.

Today, it covers 18,400 square feet, including a new 10,000-square-foot facility that opened this summer just north of its original space.

From 2016 to 2018, the company doubled both sales and staff size. The company grew from 10 to 23 employees during that stretch.

Shawn said ATVs were the primary project when the business opened, but HMC now has clients in numerous areas, including railroad, aviation and construction equipment.

The company also does custom work.

Amie said the company normally does 70% commercial and 30% custom work, but with the pandemic that has shifted more to a 60-40 ratio.

She said stay-at-home orders and more people working from home attributed to that shift.

“I think because they were home and saw things,” Amie said, referring to potential projects.

HMC equipment can coat projects up to 28 feet long.

The company stresses efficiency and accuracy.

“Powder coating is not like liquid paint,” Amie said. “You get one chance.

“We operate like a pit crew. The idea is to act like NASCAR.”

Clients have come from as from as far away as Denver, though HMC normally reaches a radius of about 75 miles around Tonganoxie.

Amie attributed that continued growth and “entrepreneurial spirit” for which SBA officials praised her and the company to Tonganoxie itself.

“This community has been an advocate for its small businesses,” she said. “Tongie strong, right?”