SBA honors entrepreneurs

Michelle Swafford

Monday, May 16, 2005 | 9:51 a.m.

Some of Southern Nevada's finest small-business owners were honored Friday by the Small Business Administration for their accomplishments, growth and community contributions.

The SBA's Nevada District office distributed awards to eight entrepreneurs and eight small-business advocates who assist with business opportunities through lending and contracts.

"The whole overarching theme to this type of recognition is to celebrate and commemorate small business in the United States," SBA's Nevada District Director John Scott said. "Our national legacy is one of small individual business owners."

There are approximately 25 million small-business owners -- which the SBA defines as 500 or fewer employees -- in the United States and they create two-thirds of the jobs, which is why they should be recognized, Scott said.

Scott Acton, owner of Trevi Manufacturing Corp. in Las Vegas, was named Nevada small businessperson of the year for the growth of his five-year-old company that creates custom statues, fountains and garden decor.

Local small-business award winners included: Jeanne Richard Jones, president and chief executive of ALPHA Services, was named women in business champion of the year for the state and region IX, which includes Nevada, Arizona, California and Hawaii; Judy Alvarez, president RJ Communication Concepts LLC, won small businessperson of the year for the Nevada Small Business Development Center; Trena Lorenzetti, owner of Love-A-Pup LLC, won small businessperson of the year for the Nevada Microenterprise Initiative; Guy Chaffee and Bob Hart, vice presidents for the SBA division for Nevada State Bank, were named Nevada financial services champions of the year; Greg Rochna, chief executive of Maverick Helicopters Inc., was named small businessperson of the year for Las Vegas; D.J. Allen, president of Imagine Marketing of Nevada Inc., was named small businessperson o f the year for Henderson; Amador Bengochea, president of Bentar Development Inc., was named small businessperson of the yea! r for the Latin Chamber of Commerce; and Hae Un Lee, president of Lee's Discount Liquor, was named small businessperson of the year for the Asian Chamber of Commerce.

The SBA looks at whether the businesses meet the SBA's definition of a small business, which is based on financial statements and the number of employees and varies by industry. It also measures growth in employees, revenue and sales volume for each award nominee and looks for community service, innovative products or services and how the entrepreneur responds to adverse business situations.

The SBA also honored Nevada State Development Corp. for having the most SBA loans and highest dollar volume for a certified development company in Nevada, Silver State Bank for having the highest dollar volume of SBA loans by a Nevada community bank, Bank of America for having the most SBA loans for a regional bank in Nevada and CIT Small Business Lending for having the highest dollar volume of SBA loans for a regional bank in Nevada.

The Bureau of Reclamation and Nellis Air Force Base were honored for their small-business support and contract opportunities for small businesses.

Nevada State Bank's SBA division was honored with the first community service award for its partnership with the SBA and its small-business support.

Donna Hopkins, SBA Nevada District economic development specialist and public information officer, was honored for her 15 years of services with the SBA. She is retiring May 31.