Alan Doan and Sarah Galbraith, the siblings who started Missouri Star Quilt Co., have just been named the National Small Business Persons of the Year.

The award is the most prominent honor presented by the U.S. Small Business Administration during National Small Business Week. The announcement was made during a ceremony featuring SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet on Friday afternoon in Washington, D.C.

The company, based in Hamilton, Mo., began seven years ago, after Doan and Galbraith’s father was laid off. To help shore up their parents’ retirement, the siblings started Missouri Star, which sells quilting supplies through its ecommerce site and its brick-and-mortar location in Hamilton, located 65 miles northeast of Kansas City. (It happens to be the boyhood home of J.C. Penney.)

If you’re looking for an example of the positive impact that a thriving business can have on a community, Missouri Star Quilt Co. is a perfect case study. The company employs 180 people in a town of 1,800 and owns 15 buildings. It generates annual sales of $18 million, and it ships so much product that its local post office has been forced to add staff. The store has become a tourist attraction, and Doan and Galbraith have invested money into building up the community’s downtown.

You can read more about Missouri Star Quilt Co. here and here.