The region’s LGBT chamber of commerce honored a local advertising agency with its annual business award during this week’s anniversary ceremony.
Jayne Keyser, vice president of Bustard Advertising, received the seventh-annual PNC Bank $10,000 LGBT Business Award. The Independence Business Alliance presented the award Wednesday at IBA10: 10th Anniversary Celebration.
“[Keyser] was very detailed in her business plan, [which] pointed to sustainability and long-term success,” IBA Executive Director Zach Wilcha said of Keyser’s application. “She wrote a lot in there about community impact and what Bustard Advertising would be doing for the LGBT community as a result of winning. Our committee really thought she was aware of her strengths and weaknesses and how her weaknesses could be improved by this infusion of capital.”
Bustard Advertising is a Gilbertsville-based agency that supplies “promotional products to make [businesses] more efficient,” said Keyser. The 62-year-old transgender woman runs Bustard with her wife, Helen.
Keyser told PGN she plans to use the award to attend trade shows, increase Bustard’s social media presence and offer seminars for young people and business owners.
“If I can help some younger people avoid some of the mistakes I made, that’s always a good thing,” Keyser said.
Keyser added she did not have a definitive vision when she started out in business.
“I know I wasted a lot of time and energy,” she said. “If I would have had a business plan like I won the award with, I would have been a lot more focused, efficient and I would have done a much better job.”
In addition to expanding Bustard, Keyser hopes to help IBA with its mission. IBA has plans to launch TransWork, a new program to help trans communities seek employment. Keyser hopes to aid this program by assisting businesses in sensitivity training and helping trans people start their own businesses.
Keyser said it is “really exciting” to receive the award.
“Any time you get some validation that you did something right, personally, that always makes you feel good,” Keyser said. “I think just the fact that it’s going to be a step toward helping people and helping my own business, that’s exciting too.”
And, Keyser noted, it sends a message to young people: “You can do the same thing.”
To learn more about Bustard Advertising, visit www.jrbpromo.com.