National Small Business Week 2010

Every year since 1963, the President of the United States has declared National Small Business Week to officially recognize the important role and contributions of America’s small businesses to the nation’s economy.  

In addition, a number of individuals will be recognized for their involvement in government contracting, disaster recovery, and their support for small businesses and entrepreneurship.  Awards will also be presented to SBA partners in financial and entrepreneurial development, including best SCORE Chapter, Small Business Development Center and Women’s Business Center.

Every fall, nomination guidelines are distributed by the district offices to solicit nominations throughout the country.  The nominations for these awards start in the district offices.  District winners are selected and advance to the regional office for competition with regional winners being advanced to the national level.  State Small Business Award Winners and recipients of the Champion and other Entrepreneurial awards are nominated by any individual, local trade associations, chambers of commerce, other business organizations and government agencies. 

Leading up to the national celebration, SBA offices will be participating at local events where some of the brightest and most talented entrepreneurs and small business champions will be recognized.   

Congratulations to the Region VI state winners for Small Business Person of the Year, Region VI Champions and Small Business Development Center – Service Excellence and Innovation Center Award, and National winners!

Texas winners:

• Texas - Small Business Person of the Year - Mary Ellen Trevino, President, P3S Corporation, San Antonio, TX
• Region VI - Minority Small Business Champion of the Year – National Winner!  Eddie Reyes, HUB Coordinator, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

• Region VI - Home-Based Business Champion of the Year - Carol Kitchen, Mary Kay Cosmetics, El Paso, TX
• Region VI - Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year - Lewis E. Orms, President, O & D Manufacturing, Inc., White Oak, TX
• Region VI - SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year - Jamie A. Bowell, Owner, Warehouse 503, Inc., McAllen, TX
• 7(a) Lender of the Year (Large) – National Winner! – United Central Bank, Keith Ward, President/CEO, Garland, TX

Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma winners:

• Arkansas - Small Business Person of the Year – Mizan Rahman, President, ETC Engineers & Architects, Inc., Little Rock, AR

• Louisiana - Small Business Person of the Year (Team) – Stephen and Rose Lemarie, Owners, Southeast Veterinary Specialists, Metairie, LA
• Region VI - Financial Services Champion of the Year - Dan M. Watsky (posthumously), Fidelity Homestead Savings Bank, New Orleans, LA.
• New Mexico - Small Business Person of the Year - Tamara Marquez-Nugent, President/CEO, Moving Solutions, Inc., Albuquerque, NM
• Region VI - Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year – National Winner!   Lloyd Calderon, Director Veteran Business Resource Center, New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Service, Albuquerque, NM
• Region VI - Women in Business Champion of the Year - Sandra L. Cody, President, ResourcesforExcellence, Inc., Albuquerque, NM
• Region VI - Small Business Exporter of the Year - David Ramahi, President,  Optomec, Inc., Albuquerque, NM

• Oklahoma - Small Business Person of the Year – Phil G. Busey, Sr., CEO, Delaware Resource Group of Oklahoma, LLC

• Region VI - SBDC – Service Excellence and Innovation Center Award - Oklahoma SBDC with the University of Central Oklahoma

We all know that small businesses are critical to the growth of our country, and it is important to recognize those individuals who have an impact on keeping our economy strong.  I encourage you to visit www.sba.gov  and contact your local SBA office to find out how to attend the Small Business Week event in your area.

It is an honor and a privilege to nominate entrepreneurs and champions of small business for these awards.  If you know of a small business or an individual that you want to nominate for one of these awards next year, your local SBA office can provide the information as soon as it is available for 2011.  I challenge you to nominate deserving small business people from your communities -- it is a great way to say thank you! 

We invite all of you to get a discussion going.  Please submit your comments at the end of this article, Thanks.

Yolanda Garcia Olivarez is the Regional Administrator Region VI (Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma) U. S. Small Business Administration