05/26/2026
SPOTLIGHT ON SBDC CLIENT📣
This years ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR award was received by a local SBDC client, The Bearded Hauler. This entrepreneur’s success is measured by more than growth, trucks, customers. His success is measured by the impact he has had on people throughout our community.
Entrepreneurship is often associated with taking risks, building a business, and creating opportunities. But some entrepreneurs go beyond building a successful company — they build relationships, strengthen communities, and improve the lives of others along the way.
That perfectly describes Jason Brauman of The Bearded Hauler.
What makes Jason’s business unique is that he sees value where others might simply see things to throw away. Every day, The Bearded Hauler picks up furniture, household items, and belongings that people no longer want and need hauled away. For many businesses, those items would simply end up in a landfill. But Jason often takes a different approach. Instead of discarding usable items, he works to connect them with individuals, families, and organizations that can truly benefit from them.
To Jason, hauling away a couch, table, dresser, or household item is often more than a job. It can become an opportunity to help a family furnish a home, support someone getting back on their feet, or provide resources to a nonprofit serving those in need. That kind of thinking does more than reduce waste — it restores dignity and creates opportunities for people who need a helping hand.
Over the past few years, Jason has helped countless low-income families who had no other means of moving out of difficult situations. He has provided support to nonprofits by donating office equipment, household items, and resources for housing programs.
But there is another part of the Bearded Hauler story that makes this business unique — and that is family.
Jason has built more than a company; he has built a family business in the truest sense of the word. With a large family of kids who are often right alongside him, it is not unusual for a job site to become a lesson in hard work, service, and responsibility.
Those moments say something important. They show that Jason is not just building a business for today — he is building values that will carry on to the next generation. He is teaching through example that hard work matters, helping others matters, and giving back to your community matters.
Please join us in congratulating this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year recipient, Jason and The Bearded Hauler.
