SBA Seeks Nominations for 2009 Georgia Small Business Person of the Year & Champion Awards

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is seeking nominations for the 2009 Georgia Small Business Person of the Year as well as its Small Business Champion awards.

Since 1963, the President of the United States has designated a National Small Business Week. The highlight of Small Business Week activities is the presentation of awards at the state and national levels. In 2009, National Small Business Week will honor the estimated 26.8 million small businesses in America. Small businesses represent 50 percent of the non-farm Gross Domestic Product (GDP). They also create 60-80 percent of new jobs in the country. National Small Business Week is scheduled for the week of May 17, 2009.

“We encourage organizations or individuals to take part in our statewide program by nominating an outstanding small business owner or small business Champion for one of the awards,” said SBA Georgia District Director Terri Denison.

In Georgia, the SBA district office selects the 2009 Georgia Small Business Person of the Year. That individual will attend the national celebration in Washington, DC to compete for the National Small Business Person of the Year award. At this celebration, a national winner is selected from all the winners from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Any person who owns and operates a small business may be nominated. Partners who jointly own and operate a small business may be nominated as a “team” so long as the number of partners does not exceed four.

Small Business Champions of the Year award categories are for those who promote small business, including volunteering time and services to small business interests and groups. Champions may or may not be small business owners. Award categories include:

Minority Small Business Champion
Veteran Small Business Champion
Financial Services Champion
Home-Based Business Champion
Women in Business Champion
Small Business Journalist of the Year
Small Business Exporter of the Year
Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Small Business of the Year
SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year

Nomination packages must be received at the Georgia District Office on or before November 17, 2008. To find nomination guidelines for all awards, go to the SBA Georgia website: www.sba.gov/ga. Look under “Spotlight.”
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