Sue Kozel, owner of SK Visions, a small business based in the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold Township, received one of 14 national finalist awards from Enterprising Women magazine’s 2005 Enterprising Women of the Year award program. The award was presented at a ceremony held Feb. 11 in Florida.
Kozel also received the national 2004 Stevie Award for Women Entrepreneurs in the category of community involvement. Kozel annually dedicates between 8 and 20 percent of her annual sales to nonprofits.
Kozel is also known for her advocacy for the environment. She created a business environmental scholarship for Allentown High School. She has been the vice chair of the Upper Freehold Vision Committee and was reappointed to the Tree City USA board. She is a national partner with WIPP (Women Impacting Public Policy); a member of the Western Monmouth Chamber of Commerce, where she serves as a board member; the National Association of Women Business Owners, South Jersey chapter, where she serves as the sunshine chairwoman; the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners; the Public Relations Society of America; the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions; the Yellowstone Association; and several other organizations.
In 2002, she was named the Western Monmouth Chamber of Commerce Circle of Excellence winner in the category of small business, and in 2003 was the recipient of the chamber’s Athena Award. The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders and Congressman Rush Holt, in 2003 and 2004, respectively, honored Kozel and the two high school students with whom she worked on the Vanishing Vistas environmental project.
Kozel and her husband, Chris Berzinski, are residents of Upper Freehold Township.