Waterbury alternative medicine practitioner is Vermont’s Small Business Person of the Year
June 19, 2024 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
Kerry Boyle speaks at the Vermont Small Business Administration awards ceremony in Essex recently. Photo by Baldwin Photography
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Vermont district office recently presented its annual awards and Waterbury alternative medicine practitioner Kerry Boyle received the top honor – Vermont Small Business Person of the Year.
A resident of Waterbury, Boyle is a doctor of acupuncture and a licensed acupuncturist. Since 2008, she has owned and run Integrative Acupuncture which employs a staff of 13 at offices in Montpelier and Williston and within Northeastern Reproductive Medicine in Colchester. Boyle also recently started Chi Chi Wellness, a chocolate company that infuses Chinese herbal medicine into organic chocolate bars.
Darcy Carter, district director of the Vermont SBA, congratulated Boyle on the honor and described Boyle’s enterprises as making a difference in the world. “Through her several businesses, she seeks to improve the health and happiness of Vermonters. She truly enjoys the challenge of building a new business and is an inspiration to others seeking entrepreneurship,” Carter said.
Boyle said she became interested in natural medicine while working at health food stores in Vermont in the 1990s. She then pursued education at Bastyr University in Seattle, graduating in 2003 with a master’s in acupuncture and later earning a doctorate in acupuncture from Pacific College of Health and Science. Boyle spent four years traveling internationally, launching and implementing acupuncture services aboard cruise ships. It was that experience that Boyle said inspired her to steer her career in a direction that would make acupuncture accessible to as many people as possible.
Kerry Boyle, with the 2024 Vermont Small Business Person of the Year award. Photo by Baldwin Photography
Boyle returned to Vermont in 2008 and founded Integrative Acupuncture. Today the practice provides care for about 300 people per week for a wide variety of conditions such as pain management, sports injuries, fertility and pregnancy, sleep disorders, general stress management and wellness. The staff includes acupuncturists, massage therapists and naturopathic physicians.
“My work as a healthcare provider is fueled by a passion to help people heal with acupuncture,” Boyle said. “But I found that I could expand my reach by creating a larger network of healers while creating jobs and more access to this incredible medicine.”
In April Boyle along with Integrative Acupuncture provider Jonathan Fleming traveled to Washington D.C. to receive the SBA award from national SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. That ceremony honored small business award winners from each state and coincided with National Small Business Week.
As part of the program at the national gathering, Boyle and Fleming had an opportunity to demonstrate their craft, including an acupressure session with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, a supporter of alternative medicine participating in the event. Boyle also had an opportunity to talk with staff from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ office to advocate for legislation that would integrate acupuncture into Medicare coverage.
Detail of the SBA award styled with dragons and bamboo for acupuncturist Kerry Boyle. Photo by Baldwin Photography
On June 12, the Vermont SBA district and VermontBiz magazine co-hosted the Vermont ceremony in Essex where Boyle’s was among nine awards presented.
In accepting her award, Boyle highlighted keys to small business and entrepreneurship such as vision, creativity, hard work and family. She also shared benefits entrepreneurs might find in East Asian cosmology and this year’s Yang Wood Dragon that symbolizes growth, creativity and strength.
The other 2024 SBA Vermont award categories and winners announced were:
Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year for Vermont and New England: Gina Akley of Trow & Holden Company, Inc., Barre
Woman Owned Business of the Year: Julie Moir Messervy of Home Outside, Inc., Brattleboro
Minority Owned Business of the Year: Marie Esther Teme of Green Vision Cleansing, Burlington
Small Business Manufacturer of the Year for Vermont and New England: Dr. Marie Pavini of Healthy Design, Ltd Co. doing business as HD Medical, Rutland
Financial Services Champion: Geoffrey Hesslink, CEO at Bank of Burlington, South Burlington
Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Emiliano Void of nuwave Equity Corporation, Burlington
Microenterprise of the Year: Wendy Mackenzie of Everlasting Herb Farm, Peacham
Community Legacy Award: Ahmed Omar of Kismayo Kitchen, Burlington
According to the SBA, there are more than 33 million small businesses in the United States, accounting for two-thirds of new jobs created over the past 25 years. More than half the U.S. labor works at a small business. More information about the SBA is online at sba.gov.