Radcliff small business owner Michelle Mitchell was recognized for her work.

Mitchell, owner and operator of Family Fun Ice Cream Parlor in Radcliff, was awarded the 2023 Kentucky Woman Owned Small Business of the Year and the 2023 Kentucky Pace Setter Award by the Small Business Development Centers.

The Pace Setter Award specifically “recognizes high performing traditional and start-up small businesses that are producing innovative products, increasing sales, creating jobs and serving communities of the Commonwealth,” according to the SBDC website.

Both of these awards were given to her Wednesday at the State Capitol in Frankfort. Other local leaders, business owners and family members were there to support Mitchell.

Mitchell, who also now serves on Radcliff City Council, opened her business in 2016. She said from the beginning she looked and sought the knowledge and advice of other local business owners. Mitchell said she never attended a business school.

“I just thought to surround myself around people that have been there, done that,” she said.

She said this approach to work and business and never has changed. She never wants to get to the point where she thinks she knows everything.

Mitchell said she has learned that successful businesses are ones that contribute and work with the community in a variety of ways. She said she always tries to give back to people who live around her.

“Involvement in the community was very important to me because this community has always been there to support me and my family,” she said.

Patricia Krausman, director of the Kentucky Small Business Development Center in Elizabethtown, is the person who nominated Mitchell for the awards. Krausman said she has worked with Mitchell from the beginning to help develop her business.

Krausman said they typically nominate local individuals for these awards each year. She decided to nominate Mitchell due to her ability to overcome adversity, her commitment to the community and she was able to translate that into her business success. She said a nominee who wins these awards is someone that is looking to improve themselves and others holistically.

“Michelle’s just really someone where family and community and business really all come together in how she runs her life,” Krausman said.

Mitchell said she is proud she has been able to create and build a business that is successful despite beginning the journey with little to no knowledge of what to do or where to start.

She said she was able to take her children to the event, and was happy to see them experience Frankfort, watch her earn the award and provide a legacy for them.

Mitchell said small businesses are the “backbone of our communities,” and hopes that people will be inspired to start their own business despite their experience, and potentially leave a mark, especially in the Hardin County area.

“I just think Hardin County is one of the most amazing places to live,” she said.