The awards recognize small businesses and their owners for their innovation, growth and resilience
The Eastern Pennsylvania district office for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced a call for nominations for the National and District Small Business Week (NSBW) awards for 2025, including the annual Small Business Person of the Year Award.
In a press release announcing the call for nominations, the district office encourages nominators to put “a small business with exceptional innovation, growth, community engagement or resilience” in the spotlight by submitting a nomination package. Businesses are encouraged to self-nominate for the award.
The annual awards will be presented during National Small Business Week 2025, May 4 through 10. National awards will be presented during the National Small Business Week awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on May 4 and 5. District Awards will be presented throughout the month of May 2025.
The annual event recognizes the contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners, according to the SBA. Last year, the SBA’s Eastern Pennsylvania District Office, which serves the 40 counties of eastern Pennsylvania, honored winners from Berks, Bucks, Lycoming, Montgomery, Northampton, and Tioga counties, representing industries including professional services, engineering, food production, farming, manufacturing, and retail, according to the release.
“Pennsylvania’s small businesses are essential to our communities — creating jobs, inspiring innovation, and delivering the goods and services our nation and world has come to depend on,” Steve Dixel, Eastern Pennsylvania district director, said in a statement. “Small Business Week is a showcase of talent, ambition, and the economic impact of entrepreneurship on our local economies.”
Two awards are given at both the national and the district level — Small Business Person of the Year and Small Business Exporter.
Additional awards presented at the district level include: Entrepreneurial Success; Family-Owned Business of the Year; Minority-Owned Small Business Person of the Year; Veteran-Owned Small Business Person of the Year; Woman-Owned Small Business Person of the Year; and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
To be nominated and receive an award, each nominee must fit within the category of the award and have a three-year track record, according to the SBA. In addition, each nominee must have received at least one type of SBA assistance such as, but not limited to: An SBA loan, SCORE counseling, Small Business Development Center (SBDC) assistance, Veteran’s Business Outreach Center (VBOC) assistance, Women’s Business Center (WBC) assistance, government contracting assistance, disaster assistance, T.H.R.I.V.E/Emerging Leaders Initiative, or Boots to Business training.
A nomination package must also be completed.
The Eastern Pennsylvania District Office District Award categories and nomination related forms, criteria and guidelines can be found at https://www.sba.gov/national-small-business-week/awards.
Nominations for the district awards will be accepted by electronic submission only, through 4 p.m. on Dec. 5. Nominations can be submitted to the district’s Box account at https://sba.app.box.com/f/568e3f23d6794829bbc6a6b2fb6cd48e.
To download forms, criteria, and guidelines for submitting a national nomination, visit the Small Business Administration’s dedicated website at www.sba.gov/nsbw.
