SIOUX FALLS – This week, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, the voice in President Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 33 million small businesses, announced the National Small Business Week (NSBW) 2024 Award Winners, comprised of business owners, lending partners, and advocates who embody the grit and determination that power our nation’s economy and ensure disaster-impacted communities can recover. This year’s NSBW will take place April 28-May 4, 2024.
“Our 2024 National Small Business Week award winners exemplify excellence, innovation, and commitment, and the SBA is proud to showcase their incredible achievements and impact on their communities and our economy,” said Administrator Guzman. “National Small Business Week is the nation’s opportunity to lift up the amazing entrepreneurs, small business advocates, local partners, advisors, lenders, and investors who support America’s entrepreneurial spirit and the historic Biden-Harris Small Business Boom.”
The NSBW Award Ceremonies will take place April 28 – 29, 2024 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Washington, D.C., where Administrator Guzman will recognize the national award winners and individual state winners, and announce the top honor of National Small Business Person of the Year from among the individual state winners. The week-long National Small Business Week celebration will also feature a virtual summit co-hosted by SCORE, mentors to America’s small businesses.
According to SBA Regional Administrator Aikta Marcoulier, the Rocky Mountain Region including Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming includes some of the most rural business sectors in the entire U.S. “Amplifying small businesses during National Small Business Week showcases the collective impact being made across our region and beyond including strong economy states like South Dakota. Small businesses are the economic engine of America, creating jobs for the majority of the working population and the goods and services we all rely on in our daily lives.”
“National Small Business Week is an opportunity each year for SBA and our vast network of economic partners to showcase top performers in the small business space,” said Jaime Wood, SBA South Dakota District Director. “Our network works diligently to ensure there’s equity and access to opportunity for small businesses across South Dakota. This year’s Small Businesses of the Year recipients are a wonderful representation of backgrounds and varieties of industries that comprise South Dakota’s nearly 90,000 small businesses – both urban and rural.”
2024 SBA South Dakota Small Businesses of the Year Awardees:
Small Business Persons of the Year
Nick & D. Greg Heineman, Co-owners, Look’s Marketplace, Sioux Falls
Women Owned Small Business of the Year
Julie Wingen, Pain & Movement Solutions, Belle Fourche
Veteran Owned Small Business of the Year
Monika & Peter Johncour, Timber Ridge Campground, Keystone
Minority Owned Small Business of the Year
Obed Garza, Garza Insurance Agency, Sioux Falls
Small Business Exporter of the Year
Tim & Vivian Houghton, H-S Precision, Rapid City
Family Owned Small Business of the Year
Stuart Stein, ESCO Manufacturing & Stein Sign Display, Watertown
Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Hillarey Warner, HH Design, Britton
Small Business Government Contractor of the Year
Darrell Brotsky, Dakota Plains Electric, Eagle Butte
Small Business Advocacy Champion of the Year
Jodi Schwan, Founder/Owner, Sioux Falls.Business
