PROVIDENCE – A Pawtucket transportation company, a historic Federal Hill restaurant and two small business advocates with the Rhode Island Coalition for Minority Investment in Providence are among the winners of the statewide 2008 Small Business Awards, the U.S. Small Business Administration said today.
Eric B. Weiner, president of Pawtucket-based All Occasion Transportation, has been named the 2008 Rhode Island Small Business Person of the Year, according to the SBA’s Rhode Island office.
Weiner started his business in 1990, while a student at Johnson & Wales University. He scraped together the money to buy a used limousine, the SBA said, and today his company serves corporate and executive clients in 450 cities nationwide.
Angelo’s Civita Farnese on Atwells Avenue will be receiving the 2008 Jeffrey H. Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year Award, a national honor for owner Robert A. Antignano who is the third-generation family member to operate the Italian eatery since its founding 84 years ago.
Angelo’s restaurant also won the SBA state and regional awards for a family-owned business. The national award was announced in late March, during a Rhode Island visit from SBA Director Steve Preston (READ MORE). Antignano is scheduled to receive it on Wednesday, April 23, during the National Small Business Week celebration in Washington, D.C.
Other state and regional award winners are:
Financial Services Champion of the Year, Rhode Island and New England: Scott D. Lajoie, vice president of The Washington Trust Co. in Westerly.
Minority Small Business Champion of the Year, Rhode Island and New England: Monah H. Rhodes, business development specialist with the Rhode Island Coalition for Minority Investment in Providence.
Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year, Rhode Island and New England: David J. Rego, deputy commander for small business at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center-Division Newport.
Women in Business Champion of the Year: Denise A. Barge, executive director of the Minority Investment Development Corporation and Rhode Island Coalition for Minority Investment, in Providence.
The SBA Rhode Island District Director awards are going to: Barbara Arena, senior regional account manager, CIT Small Business Leading; William Benford, vice president, UPS Capital Business Credit; and Frank Casale Jr., senior vice president of Sovereign Bank New England. They are being honored for their effort in coordinating the successful America East Lender’s Conference in Newport last August, the SBA said.
In addition, the SBA office in Providence said, the local chapter of SCORE: Counselors to America’s Small Business will be presenting its Joseph G.E. Knight Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence to Deborah and Edward Sullivan, owners of Kid’s Kingdom Pre-School Day Care Center in Cranston.
The winners will be honored during the SBA’s 2008 Rhode Island Salute to Small Business celebration May 19 to 23. The awards luncheon is scheduled for May 21 at Kirkbrae Country Club in Lincoln.
“I extend my congratulations to Bob Antignano, Eric Weiner and all of the 2008 Rhode Island Salute to Small Business award winners,” said Mark S. Hayward, district director of the SBA Rhode Island office. “These award winners are outstanding examples of the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit that helps to make this country so great.”
Sandy Blitz, the SBA New England regional administrator, said the winners rank “among the region’s most talented and dedicated entrepreneurs and advocates. I applaud their work, and everything that they have done to make theirs and other small businesses successful.”
For additional information about the U.S. Small Business Administration and its programs, call the SBA’s Rhode Island office at 528-4561 or visit www.sba.gov.
