Chamber awards ‘Small Business of the Year’ to trendsetter that caught ‘lightning in a bottle’
June 15, 2022 | Startland News Staff
In its third match as a Top 10 Small Business, Chicken N Pickle earned the Chamber’s coveted Mr. K Award — signifying the North Kansas City family entertainment experience as the Small Business of the Year.
Dave Johnson, founder of Chicken N Pickle, accepted the honor Wednesday during the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Celebration Awards Luncheon.
Dave Johnson, Chicken N Pickle, celebrates after being named a finalist for the 2022 Small Business of the Year honor; the company earned the coveted Mr. K Award Wednesday
Before the event, Johnson said that winning the Mr. K Award would have special significance for him, as its namesake — Kansas City entrepreneurial icon Ewing Kauffman — previously bestowed on him another significant accomplishment: “Mr. K gave me my Eagle Scout,” said Johnson.
“All those years ago he handed it to me, and winning an award named after him would just mean the world.”
To be named Small Business of the Year signifies that a company that has shown growth or sustainability of their business with strong employee relations, a record of giving back to the community, and prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion.
2022 marked the third time Chicken N Pickle was named a Top 10 Small Business, first in 2020 and again in 2021. It also took home the Entrepreneur Award in 2018.
Click here to learn more about the companies named to the Top 10 Small Business class of 2022.
Dave Johnson, Chicken N Pickle, at the 2022 KC Chamber Small Business Celebration
The winning pickleball-focused restaurant was founded in 2016 after Johnson came up with the idea while on vacation in the Grand Cayman Islands. He wanted to create a unique experience that gave customers something to do while enjoying food and drink.
Today, Chicken N Pickle offers live music, a unique and varied menu, fundraiser locations, lawn games, and pickleball.
With six restaurants located in North Kansas City, Overland Park, Wichita, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and Grand Prairie, Texas, Johnson plans to open three more later this year in St. Charles, Missouri; Grapevine, Texas; and Glendale, Arizona.
“We have lightning in a bottle that every community wants, and we’ve become the ‘Cheers’ of Kansas City,” said Johnson.
The Chamber also awarded its Specialty Awards at Wednesday’s luncheon, including:
La’Nae Robinson and La’Nesha Frazier, Bliss Books and Wine; and Greg Moore, Charlie Hustle
- The KC Chamber Emerging Business Award: Bliss Books & Wine
DEMDACO
- The KC Chamber Legacy of Kansas City Award: DEMDACO
Heidi Lehmann, Kenzen
- The KC Chamber Weida Award for International Small Business of the Year: KENZEN
Fahteema Parrish, Parrish & Sons Construction
- The KC Chamber Small Business Equity Award: Parrish & Sons Construction
The KC Chamber Small Business Celebration has been a business community mainstay for more than 30 years. It’s recognized as one of the largest Chamber small business celebrations in the United States.
This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
Featured Business
2022 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Now renting nostalgia: Hands-on classic car startup drives ‘look but don’t touch’ into the past
Ryan Wager isn’t just renting out classic cars with his new startup, he shared, he’s loaning out memories. North Kansas City-based RND — launched earlier this year — allows community members and visitors to take classic, RND-restored cars — like his own 1958 Chevy Corvette — for a spin with daily rentals. Want to take…
KC record label disrupts music industry with incubator studio concept that gives artists more freedom, ownership
Casio McCombs’ most creative ideas come to him during “dream hours” — late at night and early in the morning when a majority of people are asleep, he shared. “That’s when all these new ideas for music and how to structure the label would really hit us,” said McCombs, who co-founded the Kansas City-based record…
Their joyful art began with pom poms, but Bubble Gum Kurt’s upcycled expression won’t be boxed in
Infusing their work with plenty of color and a DIY approach, Kansas City artist Kurt Ryan weaves their identity into each craft, article of clothing, and piece of jewelry they sell. Ryan’s creates their work as Bubble Gum Kurt, and through their business venture FunStarShine, both of which evoke the colorful wares Ryan creates. “I…
Startup’s swift action against siloed systems: Finding that ‘single version of truth’ hidden in the data
This story is possible thanks to Entrepreneurial Growth Ventures (EGV), a business unit of NetWork Kansas supporting innovative, high-growth entrepreneurs in the State of Kansas. Celerity Enterprises is aiming no lower than industry modernization with its plug-and-play SaaS financial platform — designed to bring clarity to a world of industrial wholesale distribution that often is rooted…