SBA Small Business Award Nominations Deadline Approaching

Jane Sawyer, SBA Hawaii District Director. Photo courtesy of SBA Hawaii.

By Sonia Isotov

Nominations for the prestigious US Small Business Administration (SBA) Awards for 2012 opened in September and remain open until Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011.

Any individual or organization may submit a nomination for the SBA Small Business Awards in one of ten categories, listed below. Statewide and county-level winners are honored every year at an awards ceremony in Honolulu.

Using sustainable growth, business savvy, job creation, and innovation as hallmarks of achievement, every year the SBA seeks to honor the accomplishments of small business owners and entrepreneurs from many different industry segments and demographics.

“The SBA Small Business Awards are highly visible, exciting and inspiring for individuals and business owners across the state,” says Jane Sawyer, Hawaii District Director, in a written statement. “Award winners also gain new insights, establish new partnerships and often grow their business as part of the annual award process.  It’s a win-win-win for candidates who review their experience and history as they develop the nomination.”

The SBA award categories include:

• SBA’s Small Business Person of the Year
• Entrepreneurial Success Award
• Family-Owned Business of the Year
• Small Business Exporter
• Young Entrepreneur of the Year
• Minority Small Business Champion Advocacy Award
• Women in Business Champion Advocacy Award
• Veteran Small Business Champion Advocacy Award
• Financial Services Champion Advocacy Award
• Home-Based Business Champion Advocacy Award

The required nomination forms with detailed information for each of the ten award categories can be downloaded from the web at the Hawaii Small Business Development Center Network site, http://www.hisbdc.org . Completed forms should be submitted to the SBA District Office at 500 Ala Moana Boulevard, Suite 1-306, by 4 p.m. on November 10, 2011.  For more information, call SBA at 808-541-2990.