SBA announces S.C. award winners

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South Carolina’s Small Business Administration announced its national and state awards Sept. 8 with plans to recognize state winners in a virtual ceremony from 1- 3 p.m. on Sept. 16.

The SBA will have its national virtual Small Business Week celebration — typically hosted in May — on Sept. 22-24, according to a news release. National award winners will be recognized at the event, which also features educational panels for entrepreneurs on retooling operations, economic recovery and other topics.

National award winners include:

• Small-Business Person of the Year: Furman “Eddie” Burgess of Diversified Systems Inc. in Greenville
• Small-Business Exporter of the Year: James “Tyler” Robertson, Diesel Laptops in Irmo
• Small-Business Development Center Excellence and Innovation Award: Orangeburg Area Small-Business Development Center
• 8(a) Graduate of the Year: Gerald Neal of Neal’s Construction in Beaufort
•  Subcontractor of the Year: Ronald David McNeil of Hannah Solar Government Services in Summerville

State award winners include:

• Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Marquese Butler of America’s Clean & Shine Car Wash in Lake City
• Rural Small-Business Person of the Year: Rachelle Jamerson Holmes of the Thee Matriarch Bed & Breakfast in Orangeburg
• S.C. Female Small-Business Person of the Year: Tina Stevens of Secondary Solutions in Spartanburg
• S.C. Minority Small-Business Person of the Year: Shadid Montoto of Tropical Grille in Greenville
• S.C. Veteran Small-Business Person of the Year: George Gibson of Fitness Zone in Lugoff
• S.C. 8(a) Firm of the Year: Carlos Irving of Central Minority Maintenance LLC in North Charleston
• S.C. Federal Procurement Agency of the Year: Shaw AFB 20^th Contracting Squadron

Lender awards include:

• S.C. 7(a) Lenders of the Year by dollar volume: CountyBank and Synovus Bank
• S.C. 7(a) Lenders of the Year by number of loans: TD Bank and Wells Fargo
• S.C. 504 Lenders of the Year: Provident Business Financial Services and Appalachian Development Corp.
• S.C. Microlender of the year by dollar volume: Charleston LDC
• S.C. Microlender by number of loans: CommunityWorks

Each year since 1963, the president has issued a proclamation calling for the celebration of National Small Business Week, according to the release.