Bella Cakes, Inc., Newport News

As spotlighted in the Daily Press, the confectionary skills of Bella Cakes' owner, Anna Lilly, bloomed in time to pull her family from the brink of bankruptcy. Now, with a booming business that was voted "Best of the 757" in 2013 by HamtptonRoadsMag.com, Lily leads a crew of bakers that swathes a weekly rotating cast of fluffy cakes in homemade buttercream icing and stuffs their cores with 12 creamy fillings, contributing a portion of weekly cupcake proceeds to charitable causes. In addition to freshly baked cookies, muffins, and bread, the boutique bakery specializes in wedding cakes whose dazzlingly detailed fondant exteriors and towering tiers provide ample cover for bouquet-hunting bridesmaids. Lilly also happily works with clients to design custom cakes and can even invent new flavors to suit particular palates.