Local businesses honored at Bryan Rotary Club and Newman 10 Business Awards

Michael Schaefer starting building homes when he was 18, a passion that turned from hobby to side-job to the fastest growing business in the Brazos Valley.

Schaefer Custom Homes took home the top spot at the Bryan Rotary Club and Newman 10 Business Performance Awards Wednesday for the fastest-growing company. The home building business, founded in 2005, has four employees and experienced a three-year sales growth of more than 447 percent.

"I still view my job as more of a hobby," Schaefer said, saying the award still hasn't sunk in yet. "I love what I'm doing so it's not really working, and I'm really excited to win an award like this."

Schaefer Custom Homes was one of a dozen small businesses honored by the Bryan Rotary Club for innovation, growth and lifetime achievement.

Schaefer spent more than 20 years teaching accounting and serving as a department head at Blinn College before leaving to dedicate more of his time to his home building. He serves as president of the local Home Builders Association, which he says is his way of giving back to the community now that he is no longer teaching. He likened teaching accounting to building a home.

"You start with basically nothing, no skills, and then you get to the point where students can read financial statements by the end of the semester," he said.

He was thankful to his parents for supporting his aspirations for home building from an early age.

The Bryan Rotary Club honored Startup Aggieland with the Research Valley Partnership's Commercialization Rising Star Award. Startup Aggieland is a small business incubator for enterprising Texas A&M students, and has launched more than 100 student ventures.

Stylecraft Builders, Inc. received the Anco Insurance Award for Lifetime Business Achievement. Stylecraft Builders builds about 500 homes every year in the area after starting in the state's worst recession.

Other Newman 10 Business Performance Award winners were:

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Local businesses honored at Bryan Rotary Club and Newman 10 Business Awards