The freezing temperatures outside did nothing to cool the burning spirit of entrepreneurialism that raged Wednesday morning inside the Downingtown Country Club, where the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry hosted its 2019 Small Business Awards Breakfast and Annual Meeting.

The annual gathering included a number of the movers and shakers who make Chester County’s economy the most robust and diverse in Pennsylvania.

Surrey Services for Seniors was feted with the esteemed Nonprofit of the Year Award for the work it does to help older adults live with independence and dignity and continue as engaged members of the community.

“(Surrey’s) influence on the community is meaningful and far reaching,” said Kristen LaDow, a Group Vice President at M&T Bank who presented the Devon-based nonprofit its award. “It impacts individual lives and contributes to the social and economic stability and strength that is Chester County. Steeped in the principle of neighbor helping neighbor, Surrey has been a pioneer in organizing a model to facilitate aging in place.”

With the help of more than 1,300 volunteers, Surrey touches the lives of more than 6,000 people each year.

“Being the Nonprofit of the Year is an amazing tribute to our board members, employees, hundreds of donors, and over a thousand volunteers,” said Robert Madonna, Surrey’s CEO. “This group of people makes it possible to provide a vast array of services and programs to the older adults in our community.”

Notably, Surrey’s home care services are individually customized to support your loved one.

“Please help us educate people on what we do, because we’re here to help,” Madonna said. “And with all the folks we have, we can do many things.”

The CCCBI also honored Carvertise and its co-founder, Greg Star, with the Small Business of the Year Award. Carvertise brings together everyday car drivers who want to earn extra money advertising for a brand they support and companies who want a unique and effective medium to promote their image.

Since its founding in 2014, Carvertise has had 300 percent year-over-year revenue growth and has created a driver network of more than 350,000 drivers across 48 states.

“According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, Pennsylvania is home to more than one million small businesses,” said Dennis Davin, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development and the event’s keynote speaker. “Most recent estimates indicated that they employ over 2.5 million employees. To put that into context, that means more than half of the workers in Pennsylvania are employed by small businesses.”

Dallas and Dale Krapf of Krapf School Bus each received the CCCBI’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The civic-minded brothers, both graduates of Coatesville High School, represent the second generation of a family-owned business that, since it was established in 1942, has grown to become one of the largest private providers of contracted school bus transportation in the nation.

“There’s a common thread to our honorees here today: hard work, ingenuity, and good-old stick-to-itiveness,” said Guy Ciarrocchi, the CCCBI’s president.