State Small Business Award Winners Heading to Washington To Vie for National Award

WASHINGTON – State Small Business Person of the Year winners from across the country are heading to Washington, D.C., next week to see which of them will be named National Small Business Person of the Year at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Week celebration, April 21-25.   

The National Small Business Person of the Year and runners-up will be selected from among the 53 state small business winners, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.  Small businesses being honored reflect a wide range of businesses, from locomotive repair to an employment search Web site; from a music box manufacturer to a hardware store.  

In fact, the public can “attend” Small Business Week events virtually, via the SBA’s streaming video.  All events will be available on SBA’s free continuous streaming Web video at http://www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com/.

National Small Business Week 2008 will begin with three days of events in Washington, D.C., at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where more than 100 outstanding business owners from across the country will be recognized.  In addition to the State Small Business Persons of the Year, men and women involved in disaster recovery, government contracting, small business champions as well as SBA partners in financial and entrepreneurial development will be honored.

A focal point this year will be a session with President Bush at the White House on Wednesday.  

The event also features a series of executive panel forums on Health Care, International Trade, Energy, and Finance.  In addition, there will be a procurement session with corporate buyers and prime contractors who will discuss small business partnering and mentoring opportunities for small businesses seeking government contracts.  The small business community nationwide can also take part in the forums, and view other Small Business Week events that will be Webcast live at http://www.NationalSmallBusinessWeek.com.  

On April 24, Small Business Week moves to New York, where SBA will participate in the closing bell ceremony at NASDAQ to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Women’s Business Center program, which has served more than 650,000 new and growing small business owners in the past five years alone.  An awards event celebrating the top small business lenders and a financial forum on community investment, cosponsored with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, will culminate activities in New York City.

For more information about National Small Business Week, including a detailed schedule, visit online at http://www.NationalSmallBusinessWeek.com.  Media outlets are encouraged to cover National Small Business Week events, and can also register online.

Editor’s note: All award winners are listed on the Web at http://www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com/awards/  

The 2008 National Small Business Week award events will include the following individuals and groups:

• The National Small Business Person of the Year, selected from the 53 State Small Business Persons of the Year.


• The Champion Awards, recognizing both individuals and organizations for their achievements on behalf of small business, including minority, women and veteran-owned small businesses.


• The Phoenix Awards, recognizing a public official, two business owners and a volunteer whose efforts have helped their businesses or communities recover successfully from a disaster.


• The Lender of the Year, honoring financial institutions, including those that provide financing for small business exporters and inner city businesses.


• The Entrepreneurial Development Awards honoring Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers and SCORE for their innovation and excellence in assistance to entrepreneurs and small businesses.


• The Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence, recognizing large prime contractors who have excelled in their utilization of small businesses as suppliers and subcontractors.


• The Gold Star Award, recognizing exemplary performance of federal staff who manage the aggressive goals and strategic initiatives that help ensure a role for small business in the federal marketplace.


•  The Frances Perkins Vanguard Award, honoring government and industry for excellence in the use of women-owned small businesses as prime contractors and subcontractors.


• The Small Business Prime Contractor and Small Business Subcontractor of the Year, honoring small businesses that have provided government and industry with outstanding goods and services as prime or sub contractors.

Small Business Week award winners will meet with top agency officials, congressional representatives and national business leaders.  The State Small Business Award Winners and recipients of the Champion and other Entrepreneurial awards are nominated by local trade associations, chambers of commerce and business organizations and government agencies.The U.S. Small Business Administration thanks the cosponsors of National Small Business Week and related events: SCORE, Cisco, Sam’s Club, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Chevron, Administaff, IBM, Dun & Bradstreet, The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Federal Allies Institute, MyBizHomepage, Lowes, NFIB, Consumer Energy Alliance, National Small Business Association (NSBA), Direct Selling Education Foundation, National Association of Development Companies, FedSources, Association of Small Business Development Centers, Banco Popular, and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.

State Small Business Award Winners Heading to Washington To Vie for National Award

WASHINGTON – State Small Business Person of the Year winners from across the country are heading to Washington, D.C., next week to see which of them will be named National Small Business Person of the Year at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Week celebration, April 21-25.

The National Small Business Person of the Year and runners-up will be selected from among the 53 state small business winners, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. Small businesses being honored reflect a wide range of businesses, from locomotive repair to an employment search Web site; from a music box manufacturer to a hardware store.

In fact, the public can “attend” Small Business Week events virtually, via the SBA’s streaming video. All events will be available on SBA’s free continuous streaming Web video at http://www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com/.

National Small Business Week 2008 will begin with three days of events in Washington, D.C., at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where more than 100 outstanding business owners from across the country will be recognized. In addition to the State Small Business Persons of the Year, men and women involved in disaster recovery, government contracting, small business champions as well as SBA partners in financial and entrepreneurial development will be honored.

A focal point this year will be a session with President Bush at the White House on Wednesday.

The event also features a series of executive panel forums on Health Care, International Trade, Energy, and Finance. In addition, there will be a procurement session with corporate buyers and prime contractors who will discuss small business partnering and mentoring opportunities for small businesses seeking government contracts. The small business community nationwide can also take part in the forums, and view other Small Business Week events that will be Webcast live at http://www.NationalSmallBusinessWeek.com.

On April 24, Small Business Week moves to New York, where SBA will participate in the closing bell ceremony at NASDAQ to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Women’s Business Center program, which has served more than 650,000 new and growing small business owners in the past five years alone. An awards event celebrating the top small business lenders and a financial forum on community investment, cosponsored with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, will culminate activities in New York City.

For more information about National Small Business Week, including a detailed schedule, visit online at http://www.NationalSmallBusinessWeek.com. Media outlets are encouraged to cover National Small Business Week events, and can also register online.

Editor’s note: All award winners are listed on the Web at http://www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com/awards/

The 2008 National Small Business Week award events will include the following individuals and groups:

• The National Small Business Person of the Year, selected from the 53 State Small Business Persons of the Year.


• The Champion Awards, recognizing both individuals and organizations for their achievements on behalf of small business, including minority, women and veteran-owned small businesses.


• The Phoenix Awards, recognizing a public official, two business owners and a volunteer whose efforts have helped their businesses or communities recover successfully from a disaster.


• The Lender of the Year, honoring financial institutions, including those that provide financing for small business exporters and inner city businesses.


• The Entrepreneurial Development Awards honoring Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers and SCORE for their innovation and excellence in assistance to entrepreneurs and small businesses.


•  The Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence, recognizing large prime contractors who have excelled in their utilization of small businesses as suppliers and subcontractors.


• The Gold Star Award, recognizing exemplary performance of federal staff who manage the aggressive goals and strategic initiatives that help ensure a role for small business in the federal marketplace.


• The Frances Perkins Vanguard Award, honoring government and industry for excellence in the use of women-owned small businesses as prime contractors and subcontractors.


• The Small Business Prime Contractor and Small Business Subcontractor of the Year, honoring small businesses that have provided government and industry with outstanding goods and services as prime or sub contractors.

Small Business Week award winners will meet with top agency officials, congressional representatives and national business leaders. The State Small Business Award Winners and recipients of the Champion and other Entrepreneurial awards are nominated by local trade associations, chambers of commerce and business organizations and government agencies.

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^{The U.S. Small Business Administration thanks the cosponsors of National Small Business Week and related events: SCORE, Cisco, Sam’s Club, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Chevron, Administaff, IBM, Dun & Bradstreet, The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Federal Allies Institute, MyBizHomepage, Lowes, NFIB, Consumer Energy Alliance, National Small Business Association (NSBA), Direct Selling Education Foundation, National Association of Development Companies, FedSources, Association of Small Business Development Centers, Banco Popular, and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.}

^{The U.S. Small Business Administration’s participation in this cosponsored activity does not constitute an express or implied endorsement of any cosponsor’s, donor’s, grantee’s, contractor’s or participant’s opinions, products, or services. All SBA programs and cosponsored programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable arrangements for persons with disabilities will be made, if requested at least 2 weeks in advance, by contacting . Cosponsorship Authorization #SBW2008}

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