Doug’s Fish Fry Cortlandville owner wins SBA rural award

CORTLANDVILLE — Mark Braun, owner of the Doug’s Fish Fry location in Cortlandville, is the recipient of the 2024 Rural Small Business Owner of the Year Award as selected by the Syracuse-Upstate New York district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Braun said he was “so humbled and honored” to have received this award. “This is an exciting time as my son Coby [graduated] from SUNY Cortland May 11 and Coby will become full time with the restaurant and join his sister, Tess,” Braun said in the SBA news release. Braun said his daughter Tess has been an active human resources and events coordinator and VP for nearly 10 years at the business, and son Coby has been working many hours while attending school full time. He is optimistic about the future for his small business. “We are implementing beneficial changes utilizing many great platforms. The future is very bright and since Covid, many businesses, including myself, had to adapt and change business models to what I believe is the ‘New Norm.’ The transition has had its difficulties but the SBA and SBDC have been so valuable, helpful, hardworking, and kind in so many ways. I also contacted SCORE, and I would have weekly meetings where I was able to benefit from their many combined years of business knowledge. I still meet with them all today,” said Braun. “I would advise any business to use these amazing services. Besides the free service of these agencies, the SBA provided funding through Covid that also was crucial for the business and where it is today. I am honored to have been chosen for this award and am excited [about] the future of Doug’s Fish Fry Cortland and joining forces with Tess and Coby and the generations to come.” Dan Rickman, director of the SBA Syracuse Upstate New York district office, presented the award at the business in late April as part of National Small Business Week. SBA selected Braun for “his impressive growth, adapting and changing his business model as a result of the pandemic, longevity, and contributions to his community,” Rickman said in the announcement. “Mark Braun is an exemplary small business owner, and his story demonstrates how SBA, our Resource Partners and our lending partners work together to support entrepreneurs in America and contribute to economic growth in our communities,” Rickman said in the announcement. Upstate New York’s 2024 Rural Small Business Award winner was selected from nominees across the district’s 34 counties as part of National Small Business Week. SBA Upstate New York provides small-business owners with access to business counseling, capital, federal contracting programs, and disaster assistance, per its announcement.

About Braun and the business

Braun purchased a franchise of Doug’s Fish Fry in 1991 when he was just 22 years old. He teamed up with a partner to obtain financing, procure equipment, and secure a location in the Cortland area. In 1999, Braun purchased the restaurant property, and in 2000, with help from the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), he crafted a strategic business plan and secured financing for a “significant expansion.” In 2007, the business added Doug’s ToGo food service, “marking a pivotal moment in the business’s evolution,” the SBA noted. Braun’s resilience was “further tested” during the challenges posed by COVID and “personal ups and downs.” Through counseling from SBA partners at Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), and the SBDC as well as disaster assistance from SBA PPP and EIDL loans, Braun’s business “was able to thrive despite the tumultuous environment,” the SBA said. Besides operating the business, Braun is also active in the community. The Doug’s Fish Fry trailers are used for charity events to help organizations raise funding, and a percentage of profits are donated to the charity. To date this ongoing service has raised more than $2 million for local charities. Braun received the Susan G. Komen Philanthropic Award and the business has received recognition from the Cortland Area Chamber of Commerce, the SBA said.