NEWS RELEASE
DATE: March 18, 2004
Excerpt from: The Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce 115th
Annual Meeting
Special Publication of The Greenville News
By: Chris Worthy - Contributing Writer
SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
The Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce announces Advantage
Home Warranty as one of Greenville’s top Small Businesses
of the Year.
Success, contribution to community important considerations
Small business owners work hard, often sacrificing much in
their personal lives to grow their businesses and support
programs that benefit the entire community.
Many do so without the recognition they deserve. Each month,
the Chamber honors a small business that stands out from the
crowd. Annually, one such business - chosen from four
finalists - is recognized for its success and contribution
to the community. The Small Business of the Year Award honors
the entrepreneur, the dream, and the perseverance that made
it a reality.
Chamber members nominated four such businesses for the 2003
Small Business of the Year and Advantage Home Warranty was
one of them.
Brent Skidmore wants to help homeowners get a good night's
sleep. He began performing home inspections in 1991 and by
1992 he was franchising Advantage Inspection, Inc. "I'm
in the business of providing people certainty,” Skidmore
said. "In 1998, I started the home warranty company
(Advantage Home Warranty). "Most warranties are just
blanket policies with tons of loopholes." Skidmore wanted
to provide something different.
"It’s the only ‘no denied claims’ home warranty in America," he said. "We underwrite
the warranty with the inspection. All of this is to provide
one thing: customer certainty."
Advantage Inspection Inc. currently has franchises in South
Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.
Advantage Home Warranty currently operates in South Carolina
and will expand to North Carolina and Georgia in 2004. Though
the company supports a number of causes, concerns for home
safety resulted in the formation of Safe Homes for Safe Kids,
a foundation headed by Skidmore's wife, Sonya. "Every
day we tell people safety-related issues with their homes,"
Skidmore said. "That’s only a few thousand in
a community in a year." The foundation communicates
safety information to many more parents and children, primarily
through safety fairs. Sonya Skidmore said she is determined
to make children safer. "We're so proud of what
we've done this year," she said. |
