Oak Creek Resident Is Wisconsin Small Business Person Of Year

OAK CREEK, WI — An Oak Creek resident who built her business from the ground-up will be honored as Wisconsin's Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration in a special ceremony in Washington D.C.

Linda McMahon head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, said Stacy Tuschl was Wisconsin's winner for 2019 for her Academy of Performing Arts.

"A seven-figure business with 50 employees today, the Academy of Performing Arts is a textbook small business success, serving more than 1,000 students weekly and giving back annually via community events," McMahon said in a news release.

Tuschl’s entrepreneurial dream began with her desire to keep dancing after high school. For three years she taught pom teams in her parents’ backyard at no charge then took a leap and opened her first performing arts studio in 2005.

In a few years she built a custom dance facility in Oak Creek, south of Milwaukee. She opened a second location in Franklin in 2013. Tuschl expanded her first studio in 2018 to meet increasing demand.

“I’m honored to be chosen as Wisconsin’s Small Business Person of the Year by the Small Business Administration,” Tuschl said in a statement. “SBA-backed lending helped expand the Academy of Performing Arts to meet growing demand by our student dancers and musicians, which led to even greater business success. I’m truly living the dream of making my passion my livelihood.”