Printella Bankhead, president and founder of EBS Security Inc., was named Small Business Leader of 2022 by JAX Chamber at a Feb. 8 breakfast event.
She was one of 11 nominees honored at the event held at the UNF Adam W. Herbert University Center. The event was sponsored by TD Bank.
Bankhead had been a church security officer for seven years before starting her own security company in 2002. Her company provides armed and unarmed security personnel for national commercial, residential and government clients.
During her acceptance speech she thanked God for giving her the courage to start the business and provide her guiding principles.
“My grandmother would say to me, ‘Baby, never forget the bridges that brought you over.’ Don’t forget the people who mentored you. The people who supported you when you were down and out. The people who gave you a chance for success.”
She thanked JAX Chamber for early business guidance.
“I knew everything about security but I didn’t know anything about how to run a business. From what I have come to learn now, you have to get connected and you’ve got to get involved,” she said in accepting the award.
After the event, she credited her early success to meeting people rather than depending on advertising.
“It’s about building relationships and you can’t do that by sending an email. I got out there to be with the people. I shook hands. My business was built by word-of-mouth,” she said.
Last year, her revenue grew to $3 million and she now employs 120 officers, according to a chamber release.
She offered advice to those starting out, especially young women.
“She has to love and enjoy what she does. Also, put people ahead of profits any day of the week. It will help you sleep at night. Do what you do from the heart.”
The breakfast began with a “fireside chat” between JAX Chamber President and CEO Daniel Davis and PRI Productions CEO Randy Goodwin, the 1997 Small Business Leader of the Year.
The two discussed the start of PRI Productions and how early coronavirus pandemic restrictions on public events in 2020 upended the business. Goodwin lost several employees as events were canceled and people re-prioritized their careers.
Those losses taught Goodwin a management lesson.
“I have good people still with me. I learned to open my mouth and tell them what I wanted to see. I leaned more on my staff than they leaned on me,” he said.
After more than 25 years of owning his business, he told the group that his view of success has changed.
“I used to want to be well respected at whatever I do, even if I was selling doughnuts. But I’ve found that making the community I live in a better place is so much more fulfilling.”
