Amid rousing applause on Wednesday from a crowd of about 100, the two finalists strolled up to await the announcement of the annual Small Business Leader Award.

Then they stood as George Sappenfield, director of the Small Business Center at Pitt Community College, chronicled business accomplishments and community service, church affiliations and family. Each would be a worthy victor, he said.

Paul Dunn/The Daily Reflector (ENLARGE)

RIC COX and Emily Coffman, co-winners of the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce Small Business Leader Award pose in front of the Chamber building downtown in Greenville.

"The committee looked at these two nominees and talked, talked, talked, looked at the nominations and talked some more, then chatted a little bit," Sappenfield said. "... They started chatting and realized that these were two outstanding nominees, and we really could not make a choice."

The decision, instead, was to make Emily Coffman of Faulkner & Associates Advertising and Ric Cox of Richard R. Cox CPA the first co-winners of the award since it was established in 1984. The second First Citizens Bank Amazing Customer Service Award was presented to Jefferson's, a florist founded in Greenville in 1948.

"This is really a great honor, it really is, to be recognized by so many successful people in this room and by the (Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce)," Cox said.

Nominees are required to be chamber members, own a business for at least three years, have no more than 25 employees, exhibit exemplary business practices and contribute to the community.

Cox established his accounting business in 1977 and expanded to offering business valuation in 2000. Coffman joined Rosenberg & Associates Advertising in 1990, bought the business in 1995 and changed the name to Faulkner & Associates.

Both credited parental guidance, family support, faith and their staff as playing key roles in successful businesses.

"I really want to give thanks to my business partner, and I want you to know that he's always been there for me 24/7, and if I listened to him, life would go a lot easier, and that's God," Cox said. "God's a great business person, I want y'all to know that."

"I appreciate my family, the work ethic that I've learned from my parents," Cox said. "I appreciate my wife and all my employees. That's family. And this community — what a great community we live in."

Cox has 13 employees, including one of his four daughters, Rebecca Chamblee, and her husband, Scott.

Faulkner & Associates has eight employees. Coffman said she takes pride in owning a business, considering a guidance counselor in high school suggested she work as a secretary for her father's funeral home.

"I had a few teachers who believed in me and pushed me and made me believe I could be more if I wanted to be," she said.

But she gives the most credit to her parents, Charles and Barbara Wilkerson, and husband, Bill Coffman. All attended Wednesday's program.

"I've never done anything in my life that my parents weren't there with and for me, and now I'm so fortunate to have a husband that is right there," she said. "If he needs to cook dinner or get somebody somewhere, then he does so I can do not just what I need to do but what I want to do."

Coffman also praised Kitty Brann, who was at Rosenberg and stayed with the company when Coffman took over.

"She stays on top of things," Coffman said. "She picks up the pieces and makes things happen when I'm busy. She just keeps things driving at the office. She's been there for me in the good times and the bad times. She goes home every day and worries about our business just like it was hers, and you just can't find that."

The customer service award added to an eventful few months for Jefferson's, which moved into the renovated Jefferson Blount-Harvey building on Evans Street downtown.

The award is judged on customer service philosophy, employee training and development and an employee recognition and reward program for quality customer service.

"Their employees believe that good customer service is how well you listen, understand and respond to customer needs," Gordon Jethro, area executive for First Citizens Bank, said. "They also know that customer satisfaction is the cornerstone to good business. Employees receive countless thank-yous for their quality work and friendly service."

Jef Glenn returned from High Point to receive the award. Joining her were her husband, Ed; son, Michael; and father, Graham Jefferson, who opened Jefferson's in 1948 at the corner of Third and Washington streets.

"I'm so surprised," she said. "I was told to be home this morning from High Point, and I thought, 'This has got to be important.' I thought (my son) was going to ask for a loan, and he didn't want to involve his dad."

Mike Grizzard can be contacted at mgrizzard@coxnc.com and 329-9580.