(Excerpted from Small Business Exchange)
The Los Angeles District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration has announced the winners of its 2007 Small Business Week Awards competition. The awards will be presented at the 26th Annual Small Business Week Awards Luncheon to be held May 30th at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The winners were chosen from the office's tri-county service area, which includes Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties.
Hundreds of business owners and friends of small enterprise will be on hand to honor the awardees, including the SBA Small Business Person of the Year, Janet Yonati. The celebration is the combined partnership effort of the SBA and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
The other winners are:
* Debbie Cabreira-Johnson, Veteran Small Business Award
* Regina Grant Peterson and Roberto Barragan, Financial Services Award
* Bonnie Nijst, Women in Business Award
* Anthony Su, Exporter of the Year Award
Advancing Businesswomen's Interests
Zeesman Communications CEO Bonnie Nijst, who's also president of Los Angeles Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO-LA), was selected as the Women in Business Champion for 2007.
Ms. Nijst was nominated for her leadership efforts in the advancement of NAWBO-LA's mission to promote and foster entrepreneurship among the organization's membership, as well as the approximate 400,000 women business owners in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
"In the Southland, where the development rate of woman-owned entrepreneurship has set the nation's high-water mark, Ms. Nijst's actions in the communal and political arenas, coupled with the successful management of her own company, make her a paragon of what young women entering the business field should strive to emulate," stated SBA District Director Alvarado.
As president and active board member of NAWBO-LA for the past three years, Ms. Nijst has aimed at leveling the playing field for women-owned enterprises, turning it into a model organization for the nurturing of the aspirations of all women who wish to become business owners. As president, CEO and majority owner of Zeesman Communications, Inc, she directs the operations of a full-service marketing, advertising, and design firm with a proud heritage of providing services for, and purchasing from, woman-owned firms.
Calling the accolade a "truly humbling" experience, Ms. Nijst stated to this publication that she believed the SBA award "continues to validate the importance and relevance of both women's business organizations in general, and NAWBO-LA's mission to propel women business owners into economic, social and political spheres of power' in particular. It has been my privilege to serve as president of NAWBOLA and to be a member of its innovative and forward-thinking board of directors these past three years. Being asked to bring my marketing expertise to the task of strengthening the Southern California women's entrepreneurial community through events, professional development, public policy, and partnerships with corporations and government has been an incredible experience."