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Reflections Coffee Shoppe owner Jackie Smith recently earned the Phoenix Award for

Outstanding Small Business Disaster Recovery by the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience (ODR&R) at the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Smith said she is honored to land the award. Smith will accept the award on Sunday, April 28, in Washington, DC.

“Immediately after the tornado, I knew The Coffee Shoppe had to step up and do anything and everything we could to help Selma get through this major event” Smith said. “ From allowing disaster agencies to set up work space, feeding first responders, helping to coordinate community giveaways, to being a mentor for my business colleagues. We lost over 100 businesses during the 2023 tornado and for The Coffee Shoppe not to sustain any major damage, all the things I did to help was just the natural reaction of a person who loves her city and her community.  Together we are “Selma Strong.”

Smith is praised for her outstanding service in the community. The coffee shoppe first opened in 2011. She received a loan in 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. When a tornado destroyed 40 percent of Selma on Jan. 12, 2023, Smith turned to the “blue shirts,” from SBA’s Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience,

“As SBA transforms its disaster assistance program by opening new paths for governors to secure recovery resources and working with local leaders to lead from the ground up, heroes like  Ms. Smith represent the strong partnerships we are building to make communities more resilient,”  said Francisco Sánchez, Jr., associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the Small Business Administration.