Provided
Anna Summersett and Benson Varghese.
Varghese Summersett last week received the prestigious Richard L. Knight Rotary Minority Business Award.
Presented by the Rotary Club of Fort Worth, the award recognizes minority-owned businesses that exemplify core values and best practices. Mayor Mattie Parker presented the award.
Out of 125 nominated businesses, six finalists were selected and recognized during an awards luncheon on Friday at the Fort Worth Club.
“To be recognized by a city and an organization that has given so much to businesses like ours is truly humbling,” said Benson Varghese, founder and managing partner of Varghese Summersett. “Fort Worth has embraced me and our firm from the very beginning, and I am deeply grateful. This award is a reflection not just of our team’s hard work, but of a community that believes in lifting up others. We are proud to call Fort Worth home.”
The Rotary Minority Business Awards program was established five years ago by the Rotary Club of Fort Worth to honor and engage with minority-owned businesses that have demonstrated core elements of the Rotary through leadership, community engagement, and outstanding business practices in Fort Worth.
This year, the award was renamed to honor the late Richard L. Knight, a respected community leader who passed away in the spring of 2024.
Knight’s family was present at the event and paid tribute to his legacy, along with remarks from NBC5 anchor Deborah Ferguson, who emceed the program, and last year’s award recipient, Jeff Postell Jr., president and CEO of Post L. Group.
“Richard Knight was a great entrepreneur,” Postell said. “And as entrepreneurs, you are the fuel that powers the people in our community.”
The other five finalists were MOOV USA Inc.; iSalt (Institute for Success and Leadership Training; HUSTLE-BLENDZ COFFEE; Vasse Rendezvous; and CleanJet.
Varghese Summersett practices criminal defense, personal injury, and family law. Varghese Summersett has been recognized by the Fort Worth Chamber as Small Business of the Year.
Varghese runs the firm with his wife Anna Summersett. He reflected on their good fortune by relaying a story of taking their three sons this year to India, where Varghese was born in a house with no plaster on the walls and no running water. Electricity was hit and miss.
“It reminds me that it’s not just the United States that is the land of opportunity — Fort Worth is uniquely special,” Varghese said. "Eleven years ago, I decided to hang a shingle and start a law firm. There weren’t many people who looked like me doing what I was trying to do. But Fort Worth embraced me. I can't think of a single instance where I wasn’t given an opportunity based on where I was from or what I looked like. What this Rotary Club and this community have built — a place where everyone is welcome and businesses are supported — is commendable. We are honored to be part of it."