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The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) seeks nominations for its 2019 National Small Business Week (NSBW) Awards honoring small businesses and their champions. Each year, the President designates the first week in May as NSBW to recognize the nation’s job creators and innovators – small businesses – and those that assist them. In Delaware, nearly 80,000 small businesses employ more than 45 percent of the state’s workforce. On May 9, 2019, the SBA Delaware District Office celebrates several of them at its annual award ceremony with the state-level Small Business Person of the Year and Exporter of the Year also competing for national honors at the main NSBW event in Washington, D.C. National Small Business Week awards include Small Business Person of the Year, Small Business Exporter of the Year, 8(a) Graduate of the Year, Small Business Development Center Excellence and Innovation, and Women’s Business Center of Excellence. Delaware awards include Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year, Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year, Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and Family-Owned Small Business of the Year. Nomination forms and additional information are available at www.sba.gov/nsbw. Nominations for the national awards – Small Business Person of the Year, Exporter of the Year and 8(a) Graduate of the Year – should use the specific form for each respective award, and nominations for the additional Delaware-specific small business awards should use the Small Business Person of the Year form. Self-nominations are welcome. To qualify for nomination, businesses must: Have used SBA services Qualify as a small business under SBA’s size standards, found at: https://www.sba.gov/contracting/getting-started-contractor/make-sure-you-meet-sba-size-standards/table-small-business-size-standards Operate as a for-profit business Have been in business for at least three years Nominations must be mailed or hand-delivered to: SBA Delaware District Office, 1105 N. Market Street, Lobby Level, Wilmington, Delaware, 19801. Packages may not be submitted by email. For more information, contact Jim Provo, SBA’s Delaware District Small Business Awards Representative, at 302-233-6847 or james.provo@sba.gov.