Andy Stetelman of London & Stetelman received the 2019 Small Business Leadership Award May 1 during a luncheon at soon-to-be-opened Tatum Court at William Carey University. A local tradition for more than 25 years, the Small Business Leadership Award was founded by WCU and the Area Development Partnership.
“I am humbled and honored. First, I’d like to thank the Lord for my wonderful family. I would like to thank my staff. Many of these people are here with me today, but some of them are back at the office working,” Stetelman said.
The honoree thanked colleagues, customers and community partners who started out as acquaintances and became friends.
“I also want to recognize my late grandfather, Marcus London, who started the company in 1933. He was the foundation for the group we have today. Behind the scenes, he did a lot for the community, and for people, but he wasn’t ostentatious with his efforts.”
London & Stetelman Commercial Realtors assists customers in need of retail space, warehouse space, office space, undeveloped land, apartment buildings and rental homes.
“This is a well-deserved award. At the Area Development Partnership, we’re involved in real estate as well. You’d be hard-pressed to drive a tenth of a mile in Hattiesburg and not see a London & Stetelman sign. I don’t know what share of the market Andy has, but it’s high,” said ADP President Chad Newell.
“What that means is they’re doing a marvelous job of building relationships. All of our respective fields are technical in nature but, as Andy says, all of our fields are also about relationships.”
Community involvementWCU President Dr. Tommy King remarked on Stetelman’s long list of accomplishments.
“Here are one, two, three, four pages of them. I don’t think you want me to read all of it,” King said, holding up a sheaf of papers to laughter from the audience.
“Let’s just say that Andy Stetelman has not missed the chance to be involved in his community.”
A Hattiesburg native, Stetelman has been employed with London & Stetelman since 1975, working in various capacities until he became a designated broker in 1987.
He has been a member of the board of directors for the Hattiesburg Area Association of Realtors since 1986, including serving as president in 1992 – and at other times, director, secretary, treasurer and vice president. Stetelman is active in the local board’s community outreach projects, including Parking with Your Neighbors and United Way blood drives. He has been chairman of Lake Terrace Convention Commission since 1995.
Stetelman was chosen as Hattiesburg’s Realtor of the Year in 1992. In 1997, he was one of three people in the state of Mississippi to receive designation from the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, the world’s leading professional and industrial real estate association.
In 2001, Stetelman became the first Realtor of the Year named by the Mississippi Commercial Association of Realtors.
He also serves on mission trips and as board chairman of The 3-D School/Dynamic Dyslexia Design, co-founded by WCU’s Dr. Cena Holifield.
Stetelman and his wife Laurie have three children, Tate, Sarah and Stephen, and four grandchildren. The family attends Parkway Heights United Methodist Church.
Academic scholarshipsWilliam Carey University also presented student scholarships during the luncheon.
“All these students are business administration students of high moral character. They have demonstrated determination in completing tasks and a work ethic that will lead to success,” said Dr. Cheryl Dale, dean of the WCU School of Business.
Dale presented scholarships to Wesley McCurdy of Laurel and Amber Downs of Hattiesburg.
Dean Pace of the WCU Office for Advancement presented the Richard “Pepper” Jones Endowed Scholarship to Charles Daniel Jackson of Ellisville. A Hattiesburg native, the late “Pepper” Jones was a strong advocate for education and facilitated closer working relationships between local universities and the business community.
Small business, big impactKeynote speaker Glenn McCullough Jr., executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, quoted a few surprising statistics from the Small Business Administration:
- There are 254,000 small businesses in the state of Mississippi.
- Small businesses employ 47 percent of the state’s labor force.
