Charles Mullen, left, and his wife Pam, congratulated by Ralph Outcault for receiving Small Business of the Year Award on Tuesday during the Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business Awards Banquet at Benvenue Country Club. 

Telegram photo/Ben Goff

Green Builder Honored at Chamber Event

By John Henderson
Rocky Mount Telegram
Wednesday, June 16, 2010

A couple who forged ahead with developing a community of energy-efficient homes in the Rocky Mount area during the recession was awarded the 2010 Small Business of the Year Award on Tuesday.

At an awards banquet at Benvenue Country Club, the Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce recognized Charles and Pam Mullen, owners of Mullen & Co., with the award.

This year’s Small Business of the Year award is based on “staying power, growth, innovation, increased sales volume and community involvement,” a chamber press release states.

Mullen & Co. developed the green subdivision, The Oaks at Hunter Hill. It was also the first construction company in Eastern North Carolina to build an Energy Star qualified home and, to date, has completed more site-built certified homes than any builder east of the Raleigh market.

Mullen said he was honored with the award, and that his green-certified building has helped him sell homes and survive the tough economic times.

“I think that is the thing that has kept us in business. We have something to offer that nobody else does,” he said.

Mullen has served on the chamber’s board of directors and various committees.

Lige Daughtridge, the vice chairman of the chamber’s Small Business Committee, said Mullen was able to find a niche to get him through the tough economy.

“Mullen and Co. understands the way of changing with the times to keep business going,” he said, noting that Mullen was very deserving of the award.

But Daughtridge also said it was a very tough decision picking a winner among the top finalists. The other four, who already were named Small Businesses of the Month earlier this year, were Riverside Veterinary Hospital, Eastern North Carolina Medical Group, WHIG TV and Providence Bank.

Other small business awards doled out at the banquet included:

• Minority Small Business of the Year award to William R. Solomon Jr., an attorney with The Solomon Law Firm.

• Small Business Woman of the Year award to Deborah Bullock Burnette, the owner of Center Point Counseling. After a 30-year career in substance abuse services, she opened her own private psychiatric and chemical dependency outpatient treatment practice in 2002. 

• Rookie of the Year award to Tammy J. Reason, the owner of the Sharpsburg