Small Business Week: At a Glimpse

So what is Small Business Week? Ever since the Small Business Administration’s inception in 1953, the SBA selects one week out of the year to celebrate small businesses and entrepreneurs. The SBA itself is an independent agency of the federal government that aims to maintain and strengthen the economy by aiding, counseling, and protecting the interests of local businesses.

 

On May 1st, our very own Delia Awusi, the Director of the Women’s Business Center (WBC) serving Brooklyn and Staten Island, received an Excellence Award at this year’s Business Week for developing innovative programs for women entrepreneurs, and for her exceptional delivery of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) services. The SBA’s motto is: “Small businesses are critical to the economy recovery and strength to building America’s future.”

 

Delia’s award is the result of her dedication to small businesses over the past two years through working with the SBA to support women-focused events and programs including the National Women’s History Breakfast, which brings in over 200 women entrepreneurs from around the district. BOC Network’s WBC connects female entrepreneurs to economic opportunities toward growth and development.

 

John Mallano, Deputy Director of the NY District Office and Small Business Week award nominee remarked that “Small businesses, as well as innovators and inventors, create 13 times more patents than large businesses do… and are creating things to change our lives in the future.” This is one of the many reasons why Delia and BOC’s work is so important, because small businesses can be highly influential to our economy. More than 50% of the U.S. workforce is employed by small businesses, and they continue to create two out of every three jobs.

 

National Small Business Week is all about highlighting the outstanding impacts of entrepreneurs and small business owners. Steve Bulgar, Regional Administrator of NY, NJ, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands said that “…women-in-business have been recognized as an increasingly powerful force in our nation’s economy and women-owned businesses account for 35 percent of all small businesses”.

 

Fellow nominee Tom Ciccone —  inspired by a sign upon his daughter bedroom — said that small businesses “Dance as if no one is watching… small businesses dance like no one is watching because they come, do, and create, and they don’t ask.”

 

When asked to describe Delia, her co-workers proudly responded with, “Passionate, dedicated, encouraging and determined.”

 

Delia implemented two influential mentoring initiatives at the Brooklyn’s WBC, which included pairing clients with senior financial advisors, and pairing nascent Brooklyn entrepreneurs with more established counterparts.

 

Additional awardees include:

• Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Joe and Lauren Grimm – Grimm Artisanal Ales
• Micro Business of the Year: Carolina and Vinicius Vieira De Vieira – Incausa
• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Recipient of the Year: Jessica Ochoa Hendrix, Mande Holford, and Lindsay Portnoy – Killer Snails, LLC
• Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year: Frank Scarangello and Thomas Scarangello – Scaran Oil Service Co.
• Small Business Champion of the Year: Andrew Hoan, President & CEO – Brooklyn Chamber Commerce
• Small Business Development Center for Excellence and Innovation: Erica Chase-Gregory, Director – Farmingdale Small Business Development Center Farmingdale State College
• Small Business Person of the Year: Raj D. Thakkar – Charter School Business Management, Inc.

 

We at BOC Capital support and thank Delia for her continuous hard work and dedication to serving her community.

 

Thank you Delia Awusi!