Smiles to You of Newport News, Virginia, has been chosen as this year’s recipient for the prestigious Small Business with Outstanding Citizenship award sponsored by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and given by The SCORE Foundation. SCORE, which mentors to America’s small businesses, serves over 350,000 clients annually.
According to their Facebook page, Smiles for You offers "quality senior dental care" and "educational services." The dental professionals travel to clients who are unable to make it into a dental office.
Score.com summarizes the beginnings and the success of the Smiles to You program. "In 2010 Kathie Reynolds, a dental hygienist with over 20 years of experience, realized that there was a gap in providing qualified dental care to individuals who could not travel to a traditional dental facility. Understanding the dental need elderly patients, particularly those living in assisted living facilities or homebound, Kathie created the mobile dental service Smiles to You."
It went on to say, "In April 2013, Smiles to You began visiting health clinical facilities and assisted living facilities. Kathie is now experiencing an increased demand for the services of Smiles to You and is in expansion mode. She functions as administrator, marketing director, and contract negotiator, and has recently hired two assistants to help with the dental hygiene work."
SCORE CEO Ken Yancey says, “Small businesses are always important members of their local communities but some certainly rise above the rest. Smiles to You has made great strides in supporting their community through the provision of onsite, quality dental services to individuals with special needs.”
The SCORE Foundation Executive Director, David R. Bobbitt, said, “We are honored to recognize this fantastic small business that has made an incredible impact in their community, and we hope that showcasing their success will inspire others to venture down their own path of entrepreneurship.”
