SBA Delaware Seeks Nominations for Small Business Awards 2023
For almost 60 years, the SBA has been honoring and celebrating America’s small businesses through our prestigious awards program, held each May during National Small Business Week.
It’s the Small Business Administration’s equivalent of the Oscars.
You can self-nominate or be nominated by another. Either way, with a complete and compelling nomination package, you could be a winner!
Tomorrow — December 6, 2022 — SBA’s Delaware District Office will provide an overview on how to submit an award-winning package, to include details on:
- the Guidelines and deadlines
- Delaware Award Categories
- What constitutes a compelling nomination package
- How to submit a nomination package electronically
- Answers to your questions
“SBA’s small business awards is a national awards program,” said Michelle Harris, SBA Delaware Director. “Both the local and national recognition of award winners through this awards program celebrates the millions of small businesses in America that employ more than half the country’s private work force and generate so many American innovations.”
- Small Business Person of the Year (state, regional, and national level titles are awarded)
- Small Business Exporter of the Year (state, regional, and national level titles are awarded)
- Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year (state-level title is awarded)
- Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year (state-level title is awarded)
- Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year (state-level title is awarded)
- Rural Small Business Champion of the Year (state-level title is awarded)
All nominations must be received by the Delaware District office by electronic submission ONLY to the District’s BOX account, no later 3:00 p.m. on December 8, 2022.
To obtain information or receive a copy of the National/Delaware District Nomination Guidelines, please contact Ellyn Herbert at Ellyn.Herbert @sba.gov.
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From the SBA Delaware Director’s Desk: Keep Small Business at the Top of Your Holiday Shopping List
By: SBA Delaware Director Michelle Harris
“How can we help you?”
It’s the simple question upon which most small businesses base their products and services, their community connections, and – fundamentally – their very brands. This year, America celebrated Small Business Saturday on Saturday, November 26, 2022. Every Year, Small Business Saturday is the day that, as a nation, we come together to ask that question of our small businesses in return. This year, as in years past, Delawareans turned out in force to support the Main Streets and mom-and-pops that make “home,” home. And, as the holiday season moves into full swing, I urge all Delawareans to keep small business at the top of their shopping list through the holiday season and throughout the year.
SBA is proud to co-sponsor Small Business Saturday with American Express©, and that just makes sense. SBA is the federal agency with a mission that asks: “how can we help small businesses?” In the COVID era, SBA became more of a household name, as SBA programs like the COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”), the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (“SVOG”) supported small businesses of every stripe as they navigated COVID-19’s impact. Indeed, since it was established in 1953 and through to the present, SBA support of small business has been unwavering.
It’s in that spirit that – right here, in Delaware – SBA backs two new small business building programs aimed directly at Delaware small businesses. First, SBA’s Community Navigator Program connects the SBA-backed Delaware Small Business Development Center with trusted local groups to effectively deliver small businesses the help that they need during economic recovery. Second, throughout 2023, the Delaware SBDC hosts free virtual SBA Delaware sessions detailing how eligible Delaware small businesses in underserved communities can exercise competitive advantage in the federal government contracting arena by getting certified by SBA as a ‘HUBZone’ firm. Small Business Saturday is all about supporting our small businesses in every way that we can, and it’s with programs like these—along with SBA’s traditional capital, counseling and contracting programs – that SBA keeps the momentum of those efforts going strong year-round.
So, as we look forward to a full holiday season and the upcoming new year, it’s in that spirit that I urge you to join SBA Delaware this Small Business Saturday in putting small businesses at the top of your ‘list.’ The nationwide ‘Shop Small Map’ at https://www.sba.gov – Small Business Saturday (sba.gov) and the Delaware SBDC’s First-State-focused ‘Shop Small Directory’ at https://delawaresbdc.org/shop-small/ make it easier than ever to find participating small businesses. And, for information about SBA programs and services, visit https://www.sba.gov/de
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SBA-Backed Delaware SBDC Named SBA Community Navigator
This Fall, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman announced the SBA-backed Delaware Small Business Development Center as a Tier 2 grantee for the Biden-Harris Administration’s Community Navigator Pilot Program, an American Rescue Plan initiative designed to reduce barriers that all small businesses, including those owned by disadvantaged groups such as veterans, women, and those from rural communities and communities of color, often face in accessing critical support. The Community Navigator Pilot Program will provide $100 million in funding to 51 organizations that will work with hundreds of local groups to connect America’s entrepreneurs to government resources so they can recover and thrive.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has prioritized building our small business ecosystems back better so that all of our entrepreneurs have a fair shot at achieving the American dream of business ownership,” said Administrator Guzman. “We need to meet businesses where they are with resources to start, grow and be resilient, and the Community Navigator Pilot Program will power a trusted network of community partners to connect America’s entrepreneurs with the SBA. The program’s Community Navigators will develop strong relationships with deeply trusted community-based organizations that will tap into one-on-one, targeted support from programs designed to help them create jobs and drive innovation.”
“The unprecedented hyperlocal and national coalition-building approach of the Community Navigator Pilot Program will catalyze small businesses,” said Mark Madrid Associate Administrator for the Office of Entrepreneurial Development. “These distinguished grantees will help supercharge our U.S. small business recovery. Simultaneously, they will help close historic and current resource gaps and advance equity, which remains one of our top priorities.”
About the Community Navigator Pilot Program:
Utilizing a “hub and spoke” model from public health care federal programming, the SBA’s Community Navigator Pilot Program will help level the playing field for America’s entrepreneurs, especially our underserved women, people of color, veterans, and rural and low-income communities. Grantee “hubs” will serve as centralized, lead organizations, and will incorporate “spokes” to leverage partnerships with deeply trusted community-based organizations to help small businesses navigate government resources and tap into critical resources.
The SBA conducted a competitive review process to ensure compliance, objectivity, and integrity that allowed every applicant an opportunity to demonstrate the impact the SBA’s support of their organization could have on their communities.
Organizations selected to receive funding will be ramping up their operations in the coming weeks to support local business owners.
Classification: To best ensure the greatest amount of equity and diversity across geographies and optimize the SBA’s service delivery reach, the program established a tiered approach, as follows: Tier 1 will represent organizations with a national footprint; Tier 2 organizations will have a statewide and/or regional reach; and, Tier 3 will focus on city, countywide and/or rural engagement.
Breadth and depth of network: 51 Community Navigators will provide coverage across the country with the support of over 400 spoke organizations. Each hub organization will support a minimum of 5 spokes.
Funding: The SBA will provide grants to Community Navigators ranging from $1M to $5M over the course of two years. Tier 1 recipients were awarded up to $5 million, Tier 2 up to $2.5 million and Tier 3 up to $1 million.
For more on SBA’s Community Navigator Pilot Program: Community Navigators (sba.gov)
For more on the SBA-backed Delaware Small Business Development Center:
Welcome – Delaware Small Business Development Center (delawaresbdc.org)
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SBA Delaware Training
Introduction to the HUBZone Federal Government Contracting Certification Program
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