Choosing from 13 worthy applicants, the Chamber’s team of judges made the difficult decision in selecting the Top 5 Small Businesses for 2018.  Here are the Top 5, all of which met rigid criteria:

Boultinghouse, Simpson, Gates Architects: 

Collecting twelve years of experience after college, Boultinghouse, Simpson, Gates Architects Principal Danny Boultinghouse, AIA, started his own firm in 1984.

“It’s evolved from a single proprietorship to a partnership, but still stayed a small business by choice,” Boultinghouse said. “One of the keys in building a small business is to surround yourself with people better than you. That’s what I’ve been lucky enough to do.”

One of the creators of Leadership McAllen over 37 years ago, Boultinghouse believes in giving back to the community. 

“We pride ourselves on feel-good projects, such as offering our services for free to Proyecto Azteca, a non-profit low cost construction company,” Boultinghouse said. “I think all professionals should believe they have to give back. It’s not about the money, it’s about what we can do for our community.”

As for the future, Boultinghouse sees the company’s future following its current course.

“I’d like us to stay the way we now are because we feel personal contact and personal professional service are the most satisfying aspects of our profession.”

Community Hope Projects, DBA Hope Family Health Center:

“Non-profits aren’t usually seen as small businesses but we are,” Executive Director Becky Stocker said. “Everybody who works or volunteers at Hope is invested in our mission and vision, which is to help those who are uninsured.”

Begun in 1996 by Holy Spirit Catholic Church parishioners under the umbrella of Community Hope Projects, Inc., the Center has functioned with volunteer area doctors and currently has medical school residents providing services.

Starting with 100 patients, the center now sees close to 2,000 medical patients and 500 counseling patients a year.

“Our goal for the future is to serve more patients,” said Stocker. “We know there’s always going to be uninsured people. As long as we can be a resource for medical care to help prevent people from ending up in emergency rooms, stop them from getting amputations, stop them from suicide or suicidal thoughts, then we are doing our part.”

Futuro Clinical Trials, LLC:

Dr. Joseph Caporusso, CEO and certified principal investigator, established Futuro Clinical Trials when, in 2012, he won a Top 5 Chamber award with Complete Family Foot Care and realized there was a need for a company dedicated to foot clinical research and trials.

“We have three full-time coordinators, a director, and support staff,” Caporusso said. “We’re also able to handle many different therapeutic conditions due to the medical doctors  working with us.”

Futuro Clinical Trials holds a unique position in the Valley by helping many indigent patients and  patients who can’t afford care by putting them into clinical trials with their foot problems, such as ulcerations, mostly due to diabetes.

“The key to our program is many of these medicines or devices are developed for patients with certain criteria which is evident here in the Valley – Hispanic high- risk patients with diabetes, dialysis, and issues like those,” Caporusso said. “We’re in the battleground here. That’s really why we do the clinical research we do, with a goal to increase the amount of people we see and to have appropriate facilities to see them.”

McAllen Orthodontic Group: 

Over 35 years ago, Dr. John Gerling, DDS, started his practice.

“When you give someone a smile – that can be pivotal to their success in life,” Gerling explained. 

Dr. Joseph Ryan, DDS, a patient 17 years ago, made the decision to follow in Gerling’s path. Today they are partners with a common belief that education and community involvement are keys to a growing business.

“We want patients to come, have a good time and want to learn, then go contribute in the community,” Ryan said. “We do a lot of lectures at libraries and schools about astronomy, dinosaurs, and fossils. Our goal is to keep the love of learning alive in our practice.”

Following Gerling’s 2012 Man of the Year Award example of serving on many boards over the years, such as IMAS and Quinta Mazatlan, Ryan is currently president of the McAllen Public Library Advisory Board. 

Their future goal is to continue on the successful path they are now on with their work.

“We like to give back any way we can,” Ryan said.

R&D Personnel: 

Ricardo and Yolanda Gonzalez, both born and reared in the Valley, opened their staffing business in 1997 believing that strong work ethics are crucial to the success of business.

“As new businesses were coming to the Valley, we realized the obvious need for labor, clerical administrators, and managerial staffing for the new factories and companies,” sales & recruiting manager Luis Vega said. “We partnered with those enterprises and their human resources and talent acquisition management teams to fill their required positions.”

Their innovative approach to staffing, relying on social media and human resources, as well as using state services such as Texas Workforce Commission, help them pick the cream of the crop from the area.

“We have also become part of the Port of Brownsville directory ancillary services,” Vega said.

Choosing quality application over quantity, R&D Personnel fulfills its clients’ needs and continues to grow with the mission of finding positions for people and companies.

R&D is taking steps to open a second location in Brownsville this year and talks have begun for a future Dallas location as well.

Dr. Caporusso spoke for all when he thanked the Chamber for this award.

“I think it’s important to focus on small business. We kind of get away from thinking about small business people out there sweeping the floors in their offices, doing whatever they need to do to sell their products and services,” he said. “I think we all agree it’s important the Chamber continues doing this and giving people like us a chance to be recognized.”