Chamber Honors Small Biz Person of the Year

Mandy Summers, owner of , has been named the 2012 Small Business Person of the Year by the .

“Three and a half years ago I was running around Lexington trying to find a place to have a gallery and artists and banks to believe in me and my concept,” Summers told an applauding, sold-out crowd on Tuesday after accepting her award. “I’ve never worked so hard or been so happy.”

"In nominating Summers for the honor, Deborah Dunn described Summers’ energy and dedication, both to the Lexington community and to building a unique business. Summers persevered and thrived, despite the stock market tanking two weeks after she closed the loan on her business in 2008," according to a release from the Chamber.

"Mandy, her two children, family and close friends spent long hours and lots of labor gutting, painting and redecorating the space to create her urban industrial gallery," Dunn noted in her nomination. "She eagerly recruited artists at first, and now has a waiting list of artists hoping to have a spot at the gallery."

Summers' business is located in Lexington's Old Mill, at 711 E. Main St.