The U.S. Small Business Administration is now accepting nominations for its 2017 National Small Business Week Awards, including the annual Small Business Person of the Year and Exporter of the Year. Since 1963, National Small Business Week has recognized the outstanding achievements of America’s small businesses for their contributions to their local communities, and to our nation’s economy. National Small Business Week is celebrated April 30 – May 6, 2017.
The dedicated website www.sba.gov/nsbw/awards  provides forms, criteria and guidelines for submitting a national nomination.
The West Virginia District Office is also accepting nominations for its 2017 District Level West Virginia Small Business Week Awards, those categories include:
- WV Family-Owned Small Business of the Year
- WV Young Entrepreneur of the Year
- WV Encore Entrepreneur of the Year
- WV Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year
- WV Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year
- WV Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year
- WV Small Business Champion of the Year
More information on the district awards can be found at www.sba.gov/wv.
All nominations must be submitted no later than Monday, Jan. 10, 2017. SBA will no longer be using the Small Business Week online portal. All nomination packages may only be hand delivered or mailed to an SBA Office at 320 West Pike Street, Suite 330 Clarksburg, WV 26330. Email submissions of SBA Awards forms will not be accepted as they contain personally identifiable information (PII).
Questions regarding the awards can be directed to Nikki Bowmar at nikki.bowmar@sba.gov or 304-623-7445.
