“Houston, we have a problem.”

These are the unforgettable words of Tom Hanks in the movie “Apollo 13.” For those of us old enough to remember, these are more memorable as the real words of Commander James Lovell during the real Apollo 13 mission. The words were a result of an oxygen tank explosion that doomed their mission of landing on the moon and threatened the very survival of the Apollo astronauts.

The words of Commander Lovell on April 13, 1970, were addressed to mission control in Houston. The man who answered was the NASA Flight Control Director Gene Kranz.

At the J. Pat Beaird Industry of the Year Luncheon of the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, Gene Kranz tells the story of those perilous hours and days. It is a story of overcoming adversity and forging solutions around the NASA guiding principal “failure is not an option.” It is a universal story – one that resonates in everyone’s life.

Overcoming adversity is a common theme of successful businesses. For that reason, it is especially fitting the Industry of the Year in 2016 will be the 27 banks and credit unions serving the Shreveport-Bossier area. This industry has overcome the adversity of the oil and gas bust in the 1980s through the boom and bust of large manufacturing at AT&T and GM through the consolidation and deconsolidation of the banking industry to the recession of 2007.

Despite living with these economic threats and events, these banks and credit unions, as well as past recipients of the Industry of the Year such as Willis Knighton, AEP SWEPCO and Barksdale AFB, have provided the foundation of community improvement for Shreveport and Bossier.

As we honor our larger industries, we know entrepreneurs and small businesses are the driving force behind our region’s economy. The spirit of these risk takers have been the foundation of the American Dream. We can all agree those who rise to the challenge deserve our respect and admiration.

This is why the Chamber of Commerce honors The Forum Small Businesses of the Year at the J. Pat Beaird Luncheon. This year’s honorees are BNB Systems; Cook, Yancy, King & Galloway, APLC; Forte & Tablada Inc.; Twisted Root Burger; and Vintage Design Group.

In the Aug. 30 Wall Street Journal, columnist Britt Stephens described the two ways people respond to adversity. They respond either with the question “Who did this to us?” or the question “What did we do wrong?” The J. Pat Beaird luncheon honorees have faced adversity. They followed the foundation principal of Gene Kranz that “failure is not an option.” They spend less time assigning the blame and more time providing solutions and changing course. It is why the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and The Forum honor the “Industry of the Year” and this group of “Small Businesses of the Year.”

– Dr. Phillip Rozeman Chairman, Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce