The nominations for the 2011 SBA Small Business Awards are open!

With a record of recognizing excellence in small business for more than 20 years, past SBA winners have included outstanding small companies such as Bale Sandwich and Bakery, Baldridge and Associates Structural Engineering, Inc., Old Lahaina Luau, L&L Drive In, Rising Sun LLC, Haliimaile General Store, Leather Soul, Martin and MacArthur, Mountain Apple Company, and Pictures Plus.

The categories are:

• 2011 Financial Services Champion
  Honors individuals who assist small businesses through advocacy efforts to increase the usefulness & availability of accounting or financial services for small businesses.
  
  
• 2011 Home-based Business Champion
  Honors individuals who have experienced the rewards and difficulties of owning a home-based business and have worked voluntarily to improve the climate for other home-based businesses.
  
  
• 2011 Minority Small Business Champion
  Honors individuals who have fulfilled a committment to support and assist minority entrepreneurs & small business owners.
  
  
• 2011 SBA Family-owned Small Business
  Honors family-owned-and-operated businesses with more than a 15-year history that have passed ownership & operations from one generation to another.
  
  
• 2011 SBA Young Entrepreneur
  Honors individuals who have demonstrated strong entrprenurial and business skills by the successful operation and ownership of a small business for at least three years before reaching the age of 30.
  
  
• 2011 Small Business Exporter
  Honors individuals who own and operate a small business engaged in exporting products or services outside of the United States.
  
  
• 2011 Small Business Person of the Year
  Honors individuals who demonstrate outstanding skills, savvy, and ability to create success in the small business community.
  
  
• 2011 Veteran Small Business Champion
  Honors individuals who have fulfilled a committment to advancing small business opportunities for Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.
  
  
• 2011 Women in Business Champion
  Honors individuals who, as advocates for women entrepreneurs, have fulfilled a committment to the advancement of women's business ownership.
  
  
• 2011 Entrepreneurial Success Award
  Honors individuals who own and operate businesses that started out small by SBA size standards and have, with the assistance of SBA, developed into large business no loger eligible for SBA programs.
  
  

Any individual or organization may submit a nomination for an SBA Small Business Award. The required nomination forms with detailed information for each of the ten award categories may be downloaded by clicking the appropriate link above.

Nominators must also include SBA Form 898 and 2137 (Consent for Disclosure of Information and Information Release) and SBA Form 3300 (Award Nomination Form) with their nomination package.

Completed nomination forms should be submitted by 4:00 p.m. on November 19, 2010 to:

SBA District Office
500 Ala Moana Boulevard, Suite 1-306
Honolulu, HI 96813

For more information, call SBA at 808-541-2990.