'An amazing honor'

"The 2022 Small Business Person of the year for Wyoming is such a prestigious award and it looks at a business that has grown in its revenue, its employees and has that resilience and staying power for a small business as well as its contributions to its community," Amy Lea, Small Business Administration (SBA) District Director for Wyoming said. "Lena Dirck here at the Aspen House has done all that in spades."

The Aspen House has been in business for 27 years since Lena and her husband, Jim, bought it. The building was constructed in 1905 for a doctor-a nephew of Governor Amos Barber-employed by the State Penitentiary

Prior to the Dircks buying the building it had only two owners, neither who had tried to use it as a restaurant.

Lena was surprised when she was nominated but was shocked to have won. The SBA picks 50 outstanding small business owners and entrepreneurs from each state, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The SBA Wyoming District Office works in partnership with the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network to make nominations eacy hear. It was James Drever, SBDC Regional Director of Albany and Carbon County, who nominated Lena for this honor. Drever is only allowed to present one nomination, although nominations can come from all sources.

He believed Lena's story was compelling and exemplified what the award meant.

On May 5, Lena was presented her award at the Aspen House with people from Rawlins and throughout Carbon County in attendance.

Each year, the SBA celebrates National Small Business Week (NSBW) by recognizing the achievements of outstanding small business owners and entrepreneurs across the United States. All NSBW winners were recognized during a virtual event on May 5.

The Aspen House celebrated by offering food and drink to the well wishers from 2 p.m until 5 p.m.

Lena and her husband Jim talked and greeted guests with smiles. There was genuine happiness for the Dircks in the atmosphere.

Lea said when the team of judges read the story of the Aspen House and Lena's efforts to weather the challenges she was presented, the judges knew they had found their winner.

"After they had been in business for over two decades, they had a pipe burst on January 2, in 2019 ... that caused extensive damage to the entire restaurant," Lea said. "The repairs took nearly a year and then they reopened and just shortly thereafter, the Covid-19 pandemic hit."

Lea believes restaurants were impacted a bit more disproportionately than other businesses during the pandemic.

"Lena did not lay off employees and kept them working during the whole time, using the PPP program as well her own commitment to the employees, you can see it here today," Lea said. "There are parents of some of her employees who have driven as far as Casper to come down to see the business be honored. You can see all the people from all over the town and county that have come to recognize Lena, that this is a business that cares about the place where they live."

Lea said the food and customer service is amazing.

The judges are from the federal government because the SBA is a branch. Lea said the national week is not just to celebrate small businesses, but make aware the SBA and SBDC is there to help.

The Wyoming SBDC Network offers a huge amount of advice and assistance to help start a business of any size in any industry. The services are always free and completely confidential thanks to support  from the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Business Council, and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Rawlins Mayor Terry Weikum was very happy for Lena to be selected.

"This is an amazing honor for this business to win out of the entire state to be here in Rawlins and Carbon County," Weikum said. "Many of us here celebrating have known what a great place this is over the years, and they have been a real part of this community we live in. They have persevered so much and always taken it on the chin with a great attitude and absolutely deserve this award."

Weikum said the award meant the Aspen House worked with others well, whether it was the community or the Wyoming SBDC.

"It is teamwork and working to accomplish common goals," Weikum said. "This is a perfect example of how the SBDC works and gets applied successfully."

Drever said it was difficult to narrow to one business to recommend but he really felt the story was appealing.

"They had some real challenges. If you look at the rules with the PPP program for example, they looked at your income for 2019 and the Aspen House was shut most of that time for repairs," Drever said. "The decks were stacked against them, but they persevered and were resilient and now here we are."   

He said it is a testament to Lena, she kept her staff working even through the repairs and the pandemic.

"It was an incredible story to tell and nominate, and worthy of the award," Drever said. "I was happy to nominate Aspen House, but everyone should know nominations can come from towns, chambers, economic council and friends."

Pam Thayer of the Rawlins Downtown Development Authority believed it was a great thing for not only Rawlins, but for Carbon County. She said Lena was truly humbled.

"I had a conversation with Lena when she was first nominated and she told me she didn't understand why," Thayer recounted. "I told her 'I know why. It is because you have had successful employees go on to other jobs because of your mentoring and you give so much to all who come through these doors'."

Lena and the Aspen House and how they merged to be where they are today almost reads like a novel or a feel good movie.

Lena was raised in Singapore and, after graduating, she went to work at the Raffles Hotel. The Raffles Hotel has been the premier hotel in Singapore for a century and continues to this day to live up to its heritage. It is the hotel where Singapore Sling was created.

Lena met Jim, a teacher from the United States and who was on vacation in Singapore. She worked in the business side of the hotel when she met him.

They went out, fell in love, moved to Wyoming and opened the Aspen House. They raised a family and Lena, who is the executive chef, creates meals which have earned her praise from every person attending the award presentation.

"I can cook many things, but I keep in mind what people want when they come into a Wyoming restaurant," Lena said. "My specials let me be creative."

Her Singapore roots likely account for her imaginative culinary talent. While attendees were congratulating Lena, they were being offered lobster rolls, crab rangoons, shrimp rolls, beef sliders, beef satay, chicken satay and jalapeno poppers. Everything was handmade. 

Those who knew Lena were not surprised at the quality or quantity of the spread she had for her guests.

"I have known so many of these people for a long time," Lena said. "It is my pleasure they enjoy what I cook."

She is proud to have her restaurant in the building where she runs her business.

"The building is so historical being a doctor's office first and later a lawyer's office, many people of all ages have different memories of it before it was Aspen House Restaurant," Lena said. "They share their memories and it feels like we are caretakers of a special building."

Due to the layout of The Aspen House, several tables have their own private rooms. It is intimate and Lena said people feel safe. She said tables are still situated in a distance recommended by CDC.

Lena and Jim posed for pictures with different folk as people came and went.

The common statement which came out of so many mouths was, "Lena deserved the award."

She made Rawlins proud being selected as the 2022 Wyoming SBA Small Business Person. 

They should be, but it goes beyond the boundaries of just Rawlins. Lena Dirck just made Carbon County proud along with the whole of Wyoming itself.Hard work, being kind; does pay off in business.