[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 74 (Thursday, May 23, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E892-E893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   SMALL BUSINESS PERSON OF THE YEAR

                                 ______


                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 23, 1996

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor for me to bring to the 
attention of this body and the nation an individual who has truly made 
a difference in his local area and who, along the way, has helped so 
many others. Mr. Paul R. Argall, President of PCBM Management Company, 
Inc., in Ishpeming, Michigan began with a dream, a goal, an idea and 
has molded that into one of the most successful business operations in 
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. For his efforts, Mr. Argall has been 
named Michigan Small Business Person of the Year by the United States 
Small Business Administration, a honor well deserved.
  Mr. Argall first distinguished himself as a Certified Public 
Accountant, opening his own firm in 1978. Realizing that his home town 
of Ishpeming, like other small communities in the Upper Peninsula, was 
on an economic decline, Paul moved forward in 1984 by establishing PCBM 
Management Company that formed the foundation for a dream that he 
believed would not just provide jobs for so many local residents, but 
would be the primary source of economic development for the area.

[[Page E893]]

  The goal was to build a village within the city that would include 
various businesses to support local tourism. Following the acquisition 
in1987 of some 35 acres of land along US-41, the first of what would be 
many new small businesses began with the Pamida Discount Center, a 
40,000 square foot department store that created 50 new jobs. A fifty 
room hotel and 165 seat restaurant was then added in 1989 and the 
Country Village Plaza began to take shape. Since then, many new 
businesses have opened including other restaurants, grocery stores, a 
bowling center, banks, laundromats, bookstores and many other shops.
  PCBM Management itself has grown considerably, as well, to now six 
subsidiaries and is recognized in the area a leading real estate 
development company. The company has grown to over 120 employees who 
oversee annual sales of nearly $3.5 million and in 1994 made the Inc. 
500 as well as the Michigan private 100, a list of the state's fastest 
growing companies. Further, in 1995, PCBM was recognized by the 
Michigan Jobs Commission for its long standing commitment to Michigan 
and to Ishpeming.
  As good as this company is, it was the foresight of and guidance by 
Paul Argall that has provided the foundation for its growth. A strong 
family man, an active member of his church and other charitable 
organizations, Paul deserves not just the title of Small Business 
Person of the Year, but the thanks of so many people in the Ishpeming 
area.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Ishpeming area, the Upper Peninsula and 
the entire state of Michigan, I congratulate Mr. Paul Argall and PCBM 
Management Company on a job well done.

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