Know a small business with an interesting or inspiring story of how it achieved success, or own such a business yourself? It may be due some nationwide recognition.
The United States Small Business Administration is seeking nominations for small businesses and entrepreneurs to honor as part of its 2014 National Small Business Week celebration, May 12-16. Nominations are due by January 17 and are being accepted online.
The SBA is seeking nominations for business owners and businesses in the following categories:
- Small Business Person of the Year
- Small Business Exporter of the Year
- Phoenix Award for Small Business Disaster Recovery
- Phoenix Award for Outstanding Contributions to Disaster Recovery
- Federal Procurement Award- Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year Award
- Federal Procurement Award- Small Business Subcontractor of the Year Award
- Federal Procurement Award- Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence
- 8(a) Graduate of the Year Award
- Small Business Development Center Excellence and Innovation Award
- Veterans Business Outreach Center Excellence in Service Award
- Women’s Business Center of Excellence Award
In order to qualify, a business must meet SBA size standards, which determines how big a business can be to qualify as a “small business” for a variety of government programs. The standards dictate that most types of businesses must have 500 or fewer employees to qualify as "small," but can go as high as 1,000 employees in certain industries.
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