The overview page for "A Celebration of Small Business" with Mildred Council owner of Mamma Dip's, Belinda Guadarrama owner of GC Micro, Mary Jurmain owner of BTIO Educational Products, Tranh Quoc Lam owner of Ba-Le Bakery, Paul Smith owner of Paul Reed Smith Guitars as seen on Small Business School the series on PBS member stations.

You can win recognition By the Nation.

last update: May 8, 2005

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Celebrating Small Business WEEK

Once a year for a week Washington DC stops to celebrate the accomplishments of small business.

Cities & Towns in every State & Territory: Each year the Small Business Administration (SBA) recognizes one owner from each state for their creativity and tenancity and for creating jobs. The SBA is the only agency in the federal government chartered to help turn dreams into realities. And it could be argued, this agency is closest to the intent and the results of the American revolution, that is, to make it possible for businesses to grow.

Since 1963 the President of the United States has issued a proclamation calling for the celebration of Small Business Week. Small Business Persons of the Year have been recognized since 1978.

In this episode of the show you 'll meet many people, the Small Business Person of the Year winner. We meet people from Hawaii, California, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. You'll also hear from winners from Maryland and Montana. And then, we reintroduce friends from other episodes of the show since 1994. There are winners from Delaware, Guam, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Montana, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington.

You'll spend some quality time with Hector Barreto and he'll describe many of the functions of the SBA. You'll also hear from Melanie Sabelhaus, the Deputy Administrator.

You'll meet Ken Yancey to learn about the Service Corps of Retired Executives, and a counselor to learn about the role of the 1500+ Small Business Development Centers. And finally, you'll meet the SBA's Jim Van Wert who will show how us where to go to follow-up on this show.

CONTACT:
Hector Barreto, Administrator
The Small Business Administration (SBA)
409 3rd Street S.W.
Washington, DC 20416
T: 202-205-6700
URL: sba.gov

JOIN, JOIN, JOIN : Your professional associations in your industry are your key to continuing education, market research, collaborations, strategic partnerships, capital and so much more ... often you'll find that you enjoy like-minded people and many will become friends for life.

SUPPORT PUBLIC TELEVISION:
Become a member of your local station. If you are already, great. If not and your business is doing well, consider joining the Producers' Club ($1000).

WATCH TELEVISION THAT TEACHES

Key Ideas of this episode

1.		Go after recognition. Win A Contest

2.		Be an Advocate For Others

3.		Make Products That improve the quality of life

4.		Capitalize On What You Know

5.		Be Generous

6.		Access Free Help

7.		Talk To Experts

8.		Get The Cash You Need

FIRST PRINCIPLES: Starting a business is as American as the flag and apple pie. Read a little more to see why incorporating a business keeps the passion of the American revolution alive!

SHOWS ABOUT THE SMALL BUSINESS PERSON OF THE YEAR (SBPY): Over the years there are many small business owners who have become the SBPY and have shared their wisdom and insights on Small Business School. Click here to find out more.

LEARN HOW TO USE BUSINESS.GOV: This SBA site is tailored to help small business navigate through the federal waters. Also, learn the ins-and-outs the business.gov, SBA.gov, SCORE.org, and the SBDC.

CASES BY BUSINESS TYPE. Click on the heading to find all the business types and then click on your type of business to check out those case studies.

EIGHT STEPS: We all go through many of the same problems and make the same mistakes. One of the purposes of this show is to have others mentor us and show us the way. Successful, generous people, the business owners who are profiled here have been selected by their conmmunities to tell their story.

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR ALL
THE WINNERS: (in order of appearance)

1. Mildred Council, Mama Dip, NC
URL: http://www.MamaDips.com/

2. Belinda Guadarrama, QCMicro, CA
URL: http://www.QCMicro.com

3. Mary Jurmain, Realityworks, Wisconsin
URL: http://www.RealityWorks.com

4. Thanh Lam, Ba-Le Bakery, Hawaii
URL: http://www.Ba-Le.com

5. Paul Smith, PRS Guitars, Maryland
URL: http://PRSGuitars.com/

6. Frank Siccardi, Coenco, Arkansas
URL: http://www.Coenco.com

7. Brenda Burkhartsmeier,
Mountain Mudd, Montana
URL: http://www.mountainmudd.com

COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS. We invite your comments and questions. Was this episode of the show inspirational and/or educational? We hope this show is both!

Links directly to their stories: Heliodoro Valadez from Texas; Linda Brunini and John Zucchi from Rhode Island; Jerry Shapiro from Missouri; Darby McQuade from New Mexico; Darlene Jeter from Massachusetts; RuthEllen and Jack Miller from Delaware; Judy Jacobsen from Washington; Joe Dannis from California; Lorraine Miller from Utah; and Cindy McEntee from Oregon.

Editorial Comment: So much of business is focused on the bottomline. There is such a myopic view of life, we do not see the importance of maintaining the health of all businesses to keep our own business healthy. It is really quite unfortunate that there are only a few big business that really understand or care about nurturing this key part of the economy. Some of these businesses are our sponsors. We thank them profoundly and we look to the day when all of us truly realize that without small business even the big businesses would flounder.

The reason is quite simple -- within small business either you're innovating or you're dying.

The Small Business Index of Learning Companies
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