Texas Treasure Business Award Spotlights

The following businesses were recognized between November 2022 and March 2023.

Electric Motor Service

La Grange — Established: 1959

Second-generation owner, Wendy McDaniels, reflects on taking over her father’s business in an industry that remains predominantly male: “I have Antonio working behind the counter when someone comes in and says to him, ‘Hey boss, I need to talk to you about some of your scrap motors.’ And Antonio goes, ‘You need to talk to her,’ and the guy’s jaw just dropped. He was not expecting to talk to a woman! I just love that because this is a male-dominated business. Going out to job sites...and growing the same respect that people had for my father is just very important to me.”

Chesney’s Jewelry

West Columbia — Established: 1924

According to the Chesney’s, who still own and operate this family business, “In the old days, Mr. Chesney might even make loans to people who could not get one at the bank. It was a slower-paced life. People stayed in their community to shop. Now it is so easy to go to the city to shop, or the malls or online. One thing that our customers still love is that we have free gift-wrapping year-round. Our mother learned to make little roses out of ribbon and always placed one on her gifts. At Christmas, she placed little glass balls on the gifts.”

Jake and Dorothy’s Cafe

Stephenville — Established: 1948

In the owner’s words: Seven decades of feeding hungry athletes, coaches, and referees is bound to produce a story or two. Known as the ‘Battle of 377,’ the sometimes-heated rivalry between the Brownwood Lions and the Stephenville Yellow Jackets dates back to 1937, before the café. A fan of Jake and Dorothy’s, former Brownwood Head Coach, Gordon Wood, loved to treat his team to chicken-fried steaks at the café after the game. Current owner and daughter of the eponymous Jake and Dorothy, Kerry Roach recalls these memorable nights, “There were some Friday nights when the referees had to keep the peace long enough for everyone to finish dinner.”

Lubbock Lock and Key

Lubbock — Established: 1971

Bottom Right A 1975 advertisement for Lubbock Lock and Key. Source: Lubbock AvalancheJournal, Lubbock, Texas, Monday, May 26, 1975.

Founder and owner, Larry Viaille recounts how he picked a name for his business: “Most locksmiths in the early 1970s were still named after the locksmith that ran the shop (Deckelman’s, Clark’s, Pangburn’s, etc.) Others were beginning to name their business starting with A, AA, AAA, etc. to get the first listing in the yellow pages. But I wanted a name that reflected the city I had grown to love, so I named it Lubbock Lock and Key. It seemed to have a nice ring to it. Had I known that we would be as involved in the safe business as we are, I might have worked in the word ‘safe,’ maybe ‘Lubbock Lock and Safe,’ but after 50 years I wouldn’t think of changing it now.”