President of Lumus Construction, Inc. Named First Runner-Up in SBA’s National
Small Business Person of the Year Competition

Boston - Sumul Shah, president of Woburn-based Lumus Construction, Inc., has been named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2009 Massachusetts Small Business Person of the Year, SBA’s top award, according to an announcement made by Robert H. Nelson, Massachusetts SBA District Director.

The Small Business Person of the Year award is presented annually to a small business person or persons who exemplify excellence in entrepreneurship. Shah was judged on seven basic criteria: staying power, growth in number of employees, increase in sales/and or unit volume, current and past financial reports, innovativeness of product or service, response to adversity, and evidence of contributions to community-oriented projects.   John E. Cullen, PE, Engineering Services for the VA Boston Healthcare System nominated Shah for this award.

Mr. Shah went on to compete in the national competition and was named the first runner-up.  The National Small Business Person of the Year and runners-up were selected from among the 53 state small business winners, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.  Winners, including Shah, were honored this week in Washington, D.C. as part of National Small Business Week.

Shah started his general contracting firm in 1998 with just three field employees.

With an MS in Construction Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Shah first learned the ropes in the construction field by working at the close-out phase of a large low-income development project.  He also worked for the Massachusetts Highway Department on Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T) project, which at $15 billion, is the country’s most expensive and ambitious construction project undertaken. 

As a minority owned business, Lumus Construction has been able to utilize the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program, intended to help socially and economically disadvantaged businesses compete in the federal procurement marketplace.  While working on the CA/T project, Shah learned first hand the pressures that government employees face in their professions.  This experience has allowed him to relate better to his government customers as part of the 8(a) program.

Shah has a strong belief in preserving the environment so that future generations can enjoy the earth as much as we do today.  Lumus builds wind farms, installs solar arrays and installs fuel cells.  To date Lumus has many clean power projects underway including projects for state and federal government, for large industrial facilities and for major corporations.  Shah is very active with various renewable energy organizations.  Through the GeoExchange Consortium, he used his expertise in geothermal HVAC to educate various U.S. Congressmen on the implementation of this technology. 

According to Shah, the greatest reward for pursuing renewable energy comes from his six year old daughter who tells everyone that “Daddy is going to stop Santa’s house from falling into the water because Daddy is building wind mills.”

Today, after ten years in business, Sumul Shah has grown Lumus Construction, Inc. from its modest beginnings into a well established business with over 120 employees and $30 million annually in revenues.