Radcliff small business owner Michelle Mitchell was recognized for her work.
Mitchell, owner and operator of Family Fun Ice Cream Parlor in Radcliff, was awarded the 2023 Kentucky Woman Owned Small Business of the Year and the 2023 Kentucky Pace Setter Award by the Small Business Development Centers.
The Pace Setter Award “specifically recognizes high-performing traditional and start-up small businesses that produce innovative products, increase sales, create jobs and serve communities in the Commonwealth,” according to the SBDC website.
Both of those awards were presented to her Wednesday at the State Capitol in Frankfort. Other local leaders, business owners and family members were there to support Mitchell.
Mitchell, who also now serves on the Radcliff City Council, opened her business in 2016. She said from the beginning she looked and sought the knowledge and advice of other local business owners. Mitchell said she never went to a business school.
“I just thought about surrounding myself with people who have been there, done that,” she said.
She said this approach to work and business has never changed. She will never get to the point where she thinks she knows everything.
Mitchell said she has learned that successful businesses are those that contribute and work with the community in a variety of ways. She said she always tries to give back to people who live around her.
“Community involvement was very important to me because this community has always been there to support me and my family,” she said.
Patricia Krausman, director of the Kentucky Small Business Development Center in Elizabethtown, is the person who nominated Mitchell for the awards. Krausman said she has worked with Mitchell from the beginning to help grow her business.
Krausman said they typically nominate local individuals for these awards each year. She decided to nominate Mitchell because of her ability to overcome adversity, her commitment to the community, and her ability to translate that into her business success. She said a nominee who wins these awards is someone who seeks to better themselves and others holistically.
“Michelle is just really someone where family, community and business really all come together in how she manages her life,” Krausman said.
Mitchell said she is proud that she has been able to create and build a business that is successful despite starting the journey with little or no knowledge of what to do or where to go start.
She said she was able to bring her children to the event and was happy to see them experience Frankfort, see her win the award and leave them a legacy.
Mitchell said small businesses are the “backbone of our community” and hopes people will be inspired to start their own businesses despite their experience and potentially leave a mark, especially in the Hardin County area.
“I just think Hardin County is one of the most amazing places to live,” she said.