By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
April 25, 2002
Paul Nuckolls, owner of Specialty Roll Products Inc., was named today as this year's recipient of the Hartley D. Peavey Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.
The award is presented based on nominations submitted by the public. Nominees must be local individuals who have developed their business skills and expertise into a thriving company.
The award was presented at the 14th Annual Main Event, sponsored by the East Mississippi Business Development Corp. The business and industry expo will be open today until 7 p.m. at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center.
A self-described country boy from the hills of North Georgia, Nuckolls moved his family to Meridian in 1970 and began his business which today manufactures and sells rolls of paper used in cash registers all over the world.
With a background in the paper industry, Nuckolls said he had a burning desire to start his own business as a young man. He said he did so at the most vulnerable time of his life, with a wife and three young daughters.
He got his operation off the ground with the help of the local industrial foundation, a forerunner of the EMBDC.
By 1978, Nuckolls was selected the Small Business Person of the Year and went to Washington for a reception in the Carter White House.
As his business has grown, he has updated with the latest equipment to keep up with the demands of his 25,000 accounts. He said the business consumes about 600 tons of paper a month.
But he has held on to his history. In the business at 601 25th Ave., Nuckolls' first machines he used are tucked away in a corner. He said he plans to encase them in glass one day.
Nuckolls and his wife, Gloria, have three daughters: Connie Howle and Julie Wells, both of Jackson, and Lisa Love and her husband, Larry, of Meridian. They also have seven grandchildren: Mary Lawrence Love, Sara Love, Melissa Love, Jason Wells, Alison Wells, Charles Rucksthul and Ellie Metz.