Print edition: 
Beth Tully said she waited until almost the last minute to get an application in for her company to be considered for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Dream Big Small Business of the Year Award.
The application was due right after the first of the year, "coming right off of our busiest time" of the year, said Tully, who owns Cocoa Dolce Artisan Chocolates.
"I didn't have any expectation at all that we would make it," she said, adding that the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce nominated Cocoa Dolce.
Her expectation changed Monday when she was told by the U.S. Chamber that Cocoa Dolce was selected as one of seven finalists in the country for the Dream Big award.
"I'm proud for my business. I'm proud for my staff. I'm so proud to represent Wichita," she said. "The rest of the finalists are from larger metropolitan areas."
The award will be presented May 18 in Washington, D.C., during America's Small Business Summit 2010.
"These finalists are among the best small businesses in America," Thomas Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber, said in a news release. "They are the nation's doers, dreamers and innovators."
Cocoa Dolce was one of two Wichita firms — Gary and Karma Mason's iSi Environmental Services was the other — named to the U.S. Chamber's 75 Blue Ribbon Small Business Award winners, which is the field of businesses considered for selection as a finalist to the Dream Big award.
The awards are based on evaluations of companies' business practices in the areas of staff training and motivation, community involvement, customers service and business and financial planning.
The other finalists are AArrow Advertising, San Diego; Fintech, Tampa, Fla.; Meier Architecture Engineering, Kennewick, Wash.; Orbit Systems, Eagan, Minn.; Quality Float Works, Schaumburg, Ill.; and Wolfe Laboratories, Watertown, Mass.
The Dream Big award carries with it a $10,000 cash prize paid for by Sam's Club.
