ST. CLOUD --  The St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce has announced their 2021 Small Business Award winners.

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This year's recipients are Donella Westphal, Joe Francis and Joe Sexton and Gary Posch.

Since becoming President/CEO of Central McGowan in 2016, Francis has lead the company through a number of expansions and acquisitions. He has doubled the number of employees and diversified the business from industrial gasses to custom automation, robotics and dry ice. He is the Small Business Owner of the Year.

Sexton and Posch turned a small struggling Chrysler dealership in Pierz and transformed it into a large successful company. Today Brandl Motors has three locations, about 220 employees and sells about 2,500 units a year. It's because of this success the duo of Sexton and Posch has earned the Entrepreneurial Success Award.

After bringing her clients to Jules' Bistro for regular meetings, Westphal traded her agency work for the restaurant business and bought Jules' in 2017. In just three years as owner, she has remodeled the kitchen, added a baking kitchen in the basement and expanded the footprint of the restaurant. Westphal's support of women in business and the community has earned her the title of Woman in Business Champion.

All three winners will be honored at the annual Central Minnesota Business Awards Luncheon on June 3rd at the Park Event Center in Waite Park.

 

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