Owner of The Physical Therapy Clinic is Small Business Award Winner

Leanne Lyon Burns was named the Wachovia Small Business Person of the Year on May 12, 2006, during the annual breakfast celebration culminating Small Business Week in Onslow County.  The breakfast celebration is the grand finale in a week of special activities that honor the contributions of small business to the local economy.

The prestigious award is presented each year by the Jacksonville Onslow Chamber of Commerce and the Coastal Carolina Community College Small Business Center.  The two organizations join forces, along with the award sponsor, Wachovia Bank, to put the spotlight on the individuals whose entrepreneurial spirit has given rise to more than 3,000 small businesses in Jacksonville and Onslow County.

Burns, who owns The Physical Therapy Clinic, is known for being the kind of health care professional who cares for the whole person.  To Burns, relationship building and healing go hand in hand.  In an age when people don’t make time for one another, she’s an exception. Her clients report that Burns “treats you as a person, not just someone with a medical condition.”

Burns started working as a physical therapist in Jacksonville for Bob Breton and The Physical Therapy Clinic, Inc. in 1992.  Two years later, Breton offered Burns a partnership.  They became partners, and on Aug. 15, 1996, at the age of 34, Burns purchased the business.

One of the criteria for the award is that the recipient demonstrates excellence of knowledge and integrity in her business or professional field.  Another is providing valuable business and service to the community. 

Burns has been a member of the Jacksonville Onslow Chamber of Commerce since 1995 and of the chamber’s small business council for eight years.  She chaired the council’s ethics sub-committee and is responsible for the completion of a code of ethics which was adopted by the chamber’s board of directors.

Mona Padrick, president of the chamber, said Burns is an active chamber member who supports the citizens, the military, and the local business community. “Leanne is a tremendous volunteer and has been instrumental in making the local business climate better, especially for the small businesses in the community,” Padrick said.  “She is very dedicated and sets a good example for what the small business person should be.”

After purchasing the physical therapy clinic, Burns had to learn the ins and outs of being a small business owner.  A successful small business person can’t be an island.  She has to be proactive and seek out the skills and information necessary for operating a business.  Burns’ first stop was Coastal’s Small Business Center, where she attended seminars that would help her with infrastructure as well as personnel issues.  She learned about wage and hour laws, managing employees, and communication skills.

Small Business Center Director Anne Shaw said Burns has made a lifelong investment in learning and is particularly dedicated to staying informed and educated about issues that affect her patients, employees and business operations.

Burns has participated in chamber-sponsored meetings and socials to network and foster new relationships with “great people.” Burns said some business people have a misconception about the chamber.  They think it exists to direct business their way and that’s not necessarily true.  “The chamber serves a lot of purposes, including helping businesses to network,” she said.  “You have to be proactive.  Join the chamber, get involved, see how the community works, and develop relationships.  /

“The chamber is instrumental in developing the right relationships,” Burns said.  “There are a lot of people sincerely interested in Jacksonville being a good place to live and work and a lot of those people are in small business.”

When Burns took ownership of the clinic in 1996, she wanted to build on what Breton had created, so that the torch he passed to her would continue to burn even brighter and eventually be passed to someone who could continue the legacy. 

“I wanted to create something lasting; something that could weather healthcare "storms", business cycles, physical therapist shortages, etc., so that the community would have a locally-owned-community-invested physical therapy clinic for many years to come,” Burns said.

Her first objective was to write a mission statement, which she and her staff spent six months creating.  Today, after being tweaked a bit over the years, the mission statement reads, “We empower patients, employees, and our community to enhance their quality of life.” 

Everyone in the clinic had to agree with the statement before it became official, and it had to be in alignment with Burns’ principles and vision.  It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the mission statement focuses on serving all of the clinic’s stakeholders -- patients, employees, business partners, and the community.

“We’re not here to serve just one person,” Burns said.  “We’re here to serve the community.  We want our stakeholders to have a better quality of life because we exist.”

One way the clinic fulfills its mission statement is through hour-long, one-on-one examinations of its patients.  “We want to get to the root of a patient’s problem and then solve the problem instead of just putting a Band Aid on the pain,” Burns said.  “We empower our patients through exercise, good relationships, and a well-rounded approach.”

Part of being a successful business person is not only realizing your passion but following through with it and not allowing yourself to get distracted.  In the past, Burns has spent a lot of time in the daily operation of the business, but her real love is in patient care.  Now she has a business manager who oversees the every day operations so she can focus strictly on healing her patients and building relationships. 

“That’s what I want to do,” she said.  “It’s the heart of the business.”