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DVF FoodService Named Finalist for International Award |
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DVF FoodService has been named a finalist for the 2008 Outstanding Incubator Graduate award in the nontechnology category by the National Business Incubation Association.
The winner of the prestigious award will be announced May 6 at NBIA's 22nd International Conference on Business Incubation in San Antonio. A graduate of the Dan River Business Development Center of Danville, Va., DVF FoodService is a wholesale food distributor that serves an area within a 75-mile radius of Danville, Va.
Donnie Stevens is an entrepreneur who bought his first grocery store at 23, sold it at 26 to acquire a produce company, and then expanded the produce company into a full-fledged foodservice distributorship - servicing Virginia and North Carolina from a headquarters in Danville, Virginia. He first began his business in Danville as Canada Produce Company. In 1990, Stevens, bought and merged J.W. Wyatt Co. with Canada Produce, forming Dan Valley Foods (now known as DVF Foodservice). In the mid-'90s he added value-added services that his company could use to complement the existing product lines, expanding into other markets such as beverages, laundry, chemicals and equipment operation. In 2002, "The Market," a cash & carry store, opened to the public, making over 4,000 wholesale items available to the public.
Business incubation programs like the Dan River Business Development Center catalyze the process of starting and growing companies by providing entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and tools they need to make their ventures successful. DVF Foodservice moved into the Dan River Business Development Center in September 2002 to begin planning for the expansion of their foodservice division, as well as the expansion of their on-site cash and carry "The Market." NBIA estimates that in 2005 alone, North American incubators assisted more than 27,000 start-up companies that provided full-time employment for more than 100,000 workers and generated annual revenue of more than $17 billion. Approximately 5,000 business incubators operate worldwide.
The relationship with the Dan River Business Development Center has proven beneficial for DVF FoodService. Through regular networking events and business seminars, DVF leaders learned more about tax planning, business financing and Web site management. And through the center's alliance with the local chamber of commerce, DVF participated in several trade shows and vendor fairs, which helped promote the business. Since graduating from the Dan River Business Development Center in 2007, DVF FoodService has built a team of 60 employees with combined salary and wages of over $2.25 million. The company purchased a new 76,000-square-foot warehouse and office facility and expanded the on-site cash and carry "The Market" from a 6,000-square-foot shopping experience to an 18,000-square-foot facility that meets the needs of individual consumers, caterers, restaurants and business operators and provides fundraising opportunities for local groups.
Nationally, Stevens serves on the board of directors serving over 500 food distributors for Performance Food Group and is a member of the Progress Group Alliance, a division of the aforementioned. The National Business Incubation Association is the world's leading organization advancing business incubation and entrepreneurship. Each year, the NBIA Incubation Awards honor the business incubation programs, graduates and client companies that exemplify the best of the industry.
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