Ten Small Businesses Vie to be MED Week 2008 National Minority Small Business of the Year
MED Week Conference to feature International Trade Workshop and first-ever podcast
WASHINGTON – One of 10 nominated small businesses from across the nation will be named
the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business
Administration during the 26th National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week
conference in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 3-5.
This year’s MED Week event will have a strong emphasis on international trade. MED Week
2008 will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, and is co-hosted by the Minority Business
Development Agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the SBA.
The theme of the conference, “The Power of Strategic Alliances in the Global Economy,” will be
the focus of the joint SBA and MBDA workshop, where participants will talk about the small
business benefits of free trade agreements. Also on the workshop agenda is a discussion on the
SBA’s and the Department of Commerce’s first-ever International Trade Symposium held earlier
this year, and SBA’s and Commerce’s other international trade initiatives. The SBA also
unveiled its first-ever podcast about MED Week, which consists of a joint interview with SBA
Acting Administrator Jovita Carranza and Ronald Langston, the National Director of MBDA.
The podcast can be accessed from SBA’s MED Week Web page at:
www.sba.gov/medweek2008/index.html.
The national winner is selected from among 10 regional winners this year representing
Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois, Kansas, South Dakota, California,
and Washington. The regional award winners have businesses that offer services ranging from
communications, networking and video distribution technology services to providing structural
engineering services for bridges.
“We are celebrating the talented individuals who provide innovative products and services to the
private, federal and commercial sectors, create jobs in their communities and stimulate the
nation’s economy,” said SBA Acting Administrator Jovita Carranza. “We already know that
small businesses share an entrepreneurial and competitive spirit. During this year’s MED Week
event, we’re going to help minority businesses channel that spirit into business opportunities in
the global markets.”
Held annually since 1983, MED Week recognizes minority businesses’ contributions to the
nation’s economy. In this year’s proclamation, President George W. Bush urged all Americans
to join together in honoring minority entrepreneurs across the country in appropriate
observances.
In addition to announcing the national minority small business award winner, the SBA will
present other awards including the SBA Administrator’s Leadership award and the 8(a) Graduate
Firm of the Year award.
Other features of the conference include:
- White House Reception for award winners (Invitation Only);
- MED Week Welcome Reception and recognition of Billion Dollar roundtable members;
- Meet Your White House breakfast with keynote address by Ambassador Susan C. Schwab,
- the United States Trade Representative;
- Business-to-Business Linkage Forum where small businesses are paired with government agencies and private sector companies to discuss potential contracting opportunities (pre-registration required and invitation only from 2:30-5p.m. on Sept. 5);
- MED Week Business Expo and Trade Show to provide opportunities to network from 2:30-8p.m. on Sept. 4; and
- Award ceremonies to honor minority entrepreneurs, minority business advocates and leaders in the corporate community, including a closing MED Week awards gala.
The 10 Regional Minority Small Business Persons of the Year are:
REGION I
Lorenzo Cabrera
CEO
Cabrera Services, Inc.
East Hartford, CT
REGION II
Deborah W. Costanza
President
Technology and Management International
Toms River, NJ
REGION III
Robert Fitzgerald
President
UAV Communications
Newport News, VA
REGION IV
Peter Von Jess
Chairman
USfalcon, Inc.
Morrisville, NC
REGION V
George Burciaga
President
Sunrise Technology, Inc.
Chicago, IL
REGION VI
Gabriel Beltran
CEO
Skylla Engineering, Ltd.
Humble, TX
REGION VII
Lonnie J. Williams
CEO
L&J Building Maintenance, LLC
Topeka, KS
REGION VIII
Calvin (Larry) Pourier
President/Owner
Silver Creek Construction Corporation
Rapid City, SD
REGION IX
Kusum Kavia
President
Combustion Associates, Inc.
Corona, CA
REGION X
Santosh J. Kuruvilla, PE, SE, PMP
President
Exeltech Consulting, Inc.
Lacey, WA
For more details on this year’s MED Week conference, please call 1-888-836-7647 or visit www.medweek.gov or www.sba.gov/medweek2008/index.html.