SBA Salutes the Nation's Best Entrepreneurs at
National Small Business Week
April 21-25, 2008
SBA to Celebrate
55th Year with Women's Business Centers, New Executive
Panel Forums, and the
Naming of National Small Business Person of the Year
WASHINGTON, - The nation's top entrepreneurs will be hailed at the U.S. Small
Business Administration's National Small Business Week events April 21-25, 2008,
in Washington, D.C., and New York City. This year marks the 55th anniversary of
the agency, and the 45th annual proclamation of Small Business Week.
Small
business owners from across the country will be honored for their accomplishments
as the nation's leading small businesses. The highlight of events will be the
announcement of the National Small Business Person of the Year.
"Small
businesses drive our economy, creating jobs and opportunities for Americans in
every community across the country," said SBA Administrator Steve Preston.
"The SBA is very proud of the vital role it plays in enabling America's entrepreneurs,
and we are excited to be able to recognize a few of these great success stories
during the week."
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 procurement, small business
champions as well as SBA partners in financial and entrepreneurial development
will be honored.
A focal point this year will be 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.
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. The program 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.
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, a business owner 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.
Media outlets are encouraged to cover
National Small Business Week events, and can register online. Additional information
on the Small Business Week 2008 events is available at http://www.sba.gov/sbw.
Small
Business Week 2008 Schedule of Events
(Note to Press: Seating is limited at
all events and the events
schedule is subject to change.)
Monday,
April 21, 2008
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Opening Reception &
Entrepreneurial Development Awards
U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Reception
Rooms
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
10:30
a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Health Care Forum -- Health Care Solutions for Small Business
Mandarin
Oriental, Oriental Ballroom
Cosponsor: NFIB
12:30 p.m.
- 3:00 p.m. National Awards Honoring State Small Business Winners & National
Small Business Person of the Year
Mandarin Oriental, Grand Ballroom
3:30
p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Technology Forum -- Going Global: Leveraging Technology to Expand
Markets
Mandarin Oriental, Oriental Ballroom
Wednesday,
April 23, 2008
8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Phoenix Awards --
Disaster Recovery Award Winners
Mandarin Oriental, Grand Ballroom
10:30
a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Energy Forum -- Going Green: A Practical Approach for Small
Business
Mandarin Oriental, Oriental Ballroom
Cosponsor: Consumer Energy
Alliance
12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. National Procurement Award
Winners
Mandarin Oriental, Grand Ballroom
3:00 p.m. -
6:00 pm Alliance Partnerships with Prime Contractors
Mandarin Oriental, Hillwood
Room
5:30 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Champion Award Winners
Mandarin
Oriental, Grand Ballroom
Thursday, April 24, 2008
4:00
p.m. - 6:30 p.m. NASDAQ Closing & 20th Anniversary Celebration for Women's
Business Centers
NASDAQ MarketSite, New York City
8:30
a.m. - 4:30 p.m. OSBDU Procurement Matchmaking Event
Show Place Arena, Upper
Marlboro, Md.
For information, please visit http://www.fbcinc.com/osdbu
SBA
Administrator Steve Preston will be a guest speaker at this event.
Friday,
April 25, 2008
11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lender Award Winners
& Financial Forum:
Achieving Returns on Community Investment
The Westin
New York at Times Square, New York City
Small Business Week
2008 cosponsors include: Sam's Club, Administaff, Raytheon, IBM, Chevron, Cisco,
Lockheed Martin, Lowe's, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Minority Business Development
Agency, MyBizHomepage, Dun & Bradstreet, Initiative for a Competitive Inner
City, Consumer Energy, Alliance, National Federation of Independent Business,
and SCORE
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
sbw@sba.gov. Co-sponsorship Authorization
#SBW2008
