On May 3, 2019, Travis Stoliker marked the one-year anniversary of Saddleback BBQ's 2018 Small Business of the Year recognition from the Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC), awarded as part of the Michigan Celebrates Small Business program. The retrospective post captured the ongoing pride he felt about the recognition — one of the most meaningful external validations of what he and Matt Gillett had built together.
The 2018 SBDC award had recognized Saddleback for its growth, community engagement, and business practices — including the restaurant's transparent approach to employee compensation and its consistent record of community giving. A year later, the award still resonated as evidence that the business the two co-owners had built was being recognized not just by customers but by the professional business community that evaluates companies on different criteria than reviews or foot traffic.
This anniversary post is a small but genuine window into how Travis thought about milestones — not just as moments to celebrate once and move on, but as benchmarks worth returning to and appreciating again. "1 year ago winning Small Business of the Year award. Great time." — understated, but sincere. By May 2019, Saddleback had already won Michigan 50 Companies to Watch and was heading toward additional national recognition, but this award from the year before still meant something.
