Apptegy, a Little Rock technology firm founded and majority-owned by a native of India, was named Minority Startup of the Year at Monday's Minority Business Awards Luncheon, the culmination of the 33rd annual Minority Enterprise Development Week, which is run by the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Apptegy Chief Executive Officer Jeston George established the company within the temporary digs of the downtown Little Rock Technology Park at 107 E. Markham St. The company was one of the earliest at the tech park to move to independent office space. Apptegy now has nine employees and is located in Simmons Tower, also downtown.
The tech park provides space for entrepreneurs and startups like Apptegy, which provides educational institutions, such as e̶S̶t̶e̶m̶ ̶P̶u̶b̶l̶i̶c̶ ̶C̶h̶a̶r̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶S̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶s̶*, with a way to manage and distribute all their content from one place.
"Schools and districts have amazing stories to tell but have no way to tell them because they have so many technological barriers," George said. Apptegy build apps for schools and districts to help them release information through social media, voice mails, text messages and other forms of communication.
"We just make their lives easier," George said. He said he was elated that Monday's event promoted and rewarded startups like Apptegy.
"We think startups can create many more jobs at a rapid pace than a small business," George added.
The luncheon was held at Philander Smith College and featured a keynote speech by Al Bell of North Little Rock, a rhythm and blues disc jockey who went on to become chairman and owner of Stax Records and president of Motown Records Group.
The record executive spoke to attendees about seizing entrepreneurial opportunities.
"We couldn't ask for a better moment in time to proactively assert ourselves," Bell said of those from minority groups, his sentences sometimes punctuated with an "Amen" or "Yes" from the crowd.
"There's a huge void waiting for us to fill. America and the world needs us entrepreneurs to get up off our rusty dusties and become more assertive in our business and financial pursuits," Bell added.
Other award winners were Kenya Eddings of Today's Communique, the U.S. Small Business Administration's Minority Business of the Year; Arvest in Central Arkansas, represented by Chairman and CEO John Womack, Minority Supporting Organization of the Year; and Dexter Doyne of Doyne Construction, the Minority Business Legacy Award.
Business on 09/22/2015
*CORRECTION: Apptegy, a Little Rock technology startup firm, does not work with eStem Public Charter Schools. This story incorrectly listed the school as one of Apptegy’s clients.