To be nominated and receive one of the following local awards, the small business nominee must fit within the category of the award, demonstrate success in business and complete and submit the required nomination package information. Incomplete packages will not be accepted.
After you read through the categories below, you can read the general guidelines and submit your nomination.
SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year
To be considered a young entrepreneur, the individual must serve as a majority owner and operate or bear principal responsibility for operating a small business with a three year track record, and who will not have reached the age of 30 by May 1, 2024.
What are the evaluation/selection criteria for the SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award?
- Evidence of success as measured by sales and profits.
- Increased employment opportunities created by the nominee’s business.
- Development and/or utilization of innovative or creative business methods.
- Demonstrated entrepreneurial potential necessary for long-term business success and economic growth.
Family-Owned Business of the Year
This award honors a family-owned and operated business which has been passed on from one generation to the next. The owner must also serve as a majority owner and operator or bear principal responsibility for operating the small business with at least a 15-year track record.
What are the evaluation/selection criteria for the Family-Owned Business of the Year of the Year award?
- Evidence of success as measured by sales and profits.
- Increased employment opportunities created for family members and non-family members for the nominee’s business.
- Demonstrated potential necessary for long-term business success and economic growth.
- Volunteer efforts to strengthen family-owned businesses within the community.
Entrepreneurial Success Award
Individuals must own and operate businesses initially launched as small businesses according to SBA size standards and subsequently developed into large businesses; and they must have received SBA assistance to help the businesses grow.
To be nominated and receive this award, the nominee must be an individual who owns and operates or who bears principal responsibility for operating a business. Partners who jointly own and operate a business may be nominated as a “team,” so long as the number of individuals in the team nomination does not exceed four. A nominee for this award must own or operate a business that initially was defined as “small” under the applicable SBA size standards, developed into a large business and must have received SBA assistance to help the business grow. Nominees must also be residents of and employed in the United States or its territories and will be subject to background checks.
What are the evaluation/selection criteria for the SBA Entrepreneurial Success award?
In evaluating the nomination packages, the judges will look at the following criteria:
- Staying power — a substantiated history as an established business; including:
• Number of years in business; minimum three years.
• Sustained expansion, addition of territories, growth in square footage occupied.
• Steady growth in net worth as evidenced by total assets less total liabilities on fiscal year end annual balance sheets over three years. - Growth in number of employees — a benchmark to judge the impact of the business on the job market.
• Sustained over a minimum of three years.
• Increase over the three years must be in excesses of growth in Gross National Product. - Increase in sales and/or unit volume — an indication of continued growth over the last three years.
- Consistent growth in net income as evidenced by fiscal year annual profit-and-loss statements for a minimum of three years.
- Current and past financial performance — financial reports substantiate an improved financial position of the business.
• Profit-and-loss statements for the last three years, reflecting sustained upward growth.
• Balance sheets for the last three years, showing consistent increase in net worth and/or partners’ return. - SBA Assistance – documentation of the type(s) and amount(s) of SBA assistance received by the business and the year(s) in which it was received.
- Innovativeness of product or service offered — an illustration of the creativity and imagination of the nominee.
• Specific description of uniqueness of product or service.
• Explanation of how product or service fits a niche not being adequately addressed by the competition. - Response to adversity — examples of problems faced in the nominee’s business and the methods used to solve them, including:
• Specific description of financial, physical, legal or other crisis.
• Substantiation of the threat to the continuity of the business.
• Defined actions taken by the nominee to resolve the crisis. - Contributions to community-oriented projects — evidence of the use of his/her personal time and resources, including:
• Listing of specific contributions of money, time, or resources to charitable causes.
• Membership in councils, boards and clubs providing support and services to the community.
SBA will make the above referenced awards to eligible small businesses at the Los Angeles District level only (Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties). Awards for Small Business Person of the Year and Exporter of the Year will be forwarded for National competition.