Senator Joni Ernst stopped by Latimer’s Friday afternoon, May 8, to share the Small Business of the Week award with the current and past store owners.
Store owners Deana Hernandez and Sarah and Clay Miller said they are grateful for the opportunity to continue serving the community through the newly-renamed Latimer’s, which they purchased in February.
The store — which can be found at 110 N Akir St in Latimer — is currently stocked with everything from everyday grocery items to lunch and dinner offerings, such as pizza, tacos, hoagie sandwiches, burgers and more. They also have daily specials Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., which are posted on their Facebook page.
“We really enjoy the customers being here and we love making new connections and meeting new people,” Sarah said.
During her presentation, Ernst said they started the award program as a way to reward and thank small business owners across Iowa.
“Because I chair the Senate Small Business Committee, I get to decide how I can reward and thank small business owners across Iowa,” she said. “So what my team and I decided to do was award a small business of the week every single week until we had gotten all the way through our 99 counties.”
Latimer’s was one of four stops Ernst made Friday as part of National Small Business Week.
She thanked the group at Latimer’s for their hard work, saying “it is important for our communities to have access to basic goods.”
“Thanks for taking on Latimer’s and making it a part of the community, making sure that people have access to groceries every single day,” she said. “It’s so important … It’s National Small Business Week across the country, and so recognizing you has been very important to me, but here in Iowa, it’s that much more important because 99 percent of businesses in the state of Iowa are small businesses. It’s how our small rural communities survive.”
Ernst explained that the store was being presented with a Congressional Record, making them a part of American history.
“This is an official document coming from the United States Senate,” she said. “So, in the future, if you have children or grandchildren or friends of family who go to Washington, D.C., they can go to the United States Senate and this will be forever history in the United States Senate records.”