The Nevada District office of the U. S. Small Business Administration has selected its small business award honorees for 2018. Winners will be recognized at a May 3 luncheon in Las Vegas. The event held annually in conjunction with Small Business Week will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a Small Business Network Expo prior to the award luncheon to be held at noon at the Gold Coast.
Mehdi Zarhloul, owner and founder of Crazy Pita Rotisserie & Grill, Las Vegas, has been named SBA’s Small Business Person of the Year for the state of Nevada. Zarhloul will compete with winners from all other states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands for the national award. On April 29-30, all of the state winners and national winners will be honored at a special ceremony in the nation’s capital.
Others Nevada award winners being honored at the awards function in Las Vegas include:
• Minority Owned Small Business of the Year: Annielyn and Reymundo Abarca, owners, All About Details LLC, Las Vegas.
• Woman Owned Small Business of the Year: Leila Hale, attorney and founder,Hale Injury Law, Henderson.
• Family Owned Small Business of the Year: Christian and Kasey Christensen, owners, Süp, Reno.
• Microenterprise Business of the Year: Ty Martin, owner, Craft Wine & Beer, Reno.
• Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Jonathan Santos, Medin Gebrezgier and Cesar Santos, owners, Revive, (E-Commerce), Las Vegas.
• Veteran Small Business of the Year: James “Chef” Barlow, CEO, U.S. Air Force retired, Blue Air Training LLC, Las Vegas;
• Rural Small Business of the Year: Troy Pefley, president/owner Royal Floors, Fernley.
• Nevada Entrepreneurial Spirit — Statewide Recipient, Kathleen Carrico, statewide training director, Nevada SBDC, Reno.
• Nevada Entrepreneurial Spirit — Urban Recipient, Rodney Jorgensen, director of counseling, Nevada SBDC, Reno.
• Nevada Entrepreneurial Spirit — Rural Recipient, Mary Kerner, CEO, Rural Nevada Development Corp., Ely.
• Nevada Legacy Award — Karen Cashman, president Cashman Photo Enterprises of Nevada Inc., Las Vegas.
The nominees were scored and selected by a panel of judges based on their responses to a variety of criteria including staying power, growth in number of employees, increase in sales, financial reports, innovative products or services, response to adversity, evidence of contributions to community-oriented projects and small business advocacy.
