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The owner of a catering business and event venue in northwest Iowa has been named “Iowa Small Business Person of the Year” by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Iowa Regional Office.
Kathy Bishop opened a restaurant called Aggie’s in the Sioux City suburb of Sargent Bluff in 1994, but after a few years, she realized she had to make a change for the better.
“We had a completely different menu, everything was homemade from scratch, and people started asking us to accommodate them. And we did.” Bishop says. Then my kitchen became too much to handle restaurant and catering at the same time. ”
In 2009, Bishop pivoted to full-time catering, turning the restaurant into an event venue and soon began hosting graduations, birthdays, retirements, weddings, funerals, and more.
Bishop, which offers breakfast, lunch and dinner catering during the week and multiple events on the weekends, has continued to add members to its staff over the past 15 years.
“We have about 10 people come in every day,” Bishop said. “I have one person who comes to work every morning at 4:30 a.m. because she likes to get up at that time. We get up to 50 people at events. If there are five parties, five Team. ”
A 1983 graduate of Texas A&M (whose mascot is the Aggies), Kathy worked as a bank examiner for several years, but her heart’s desire to become an entrepreneur led her to the hospitality industry. .
While being named Iowa Small Business Person of the Year is a great honor, she says her motto and business practices are simple.
“I treat people the way I want to be treated. My father is an entrepreneur and taught me to make deals by shaking hands, and I’ve always practiced that.” says Bishop. “It’s always good to get involved in your community, support others, and help others start a new business. Small businesses are all in similar situations and can help each other. We need to support each other.”
As Iowa’s Small Business of the Year, Bishop will represent Iowa at the National Small Business Week ceremony in Washington, D.C., in April and compete for the National Small Business of the Year award. Become.
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