(Updated, 1:20 p.m.)
PROVIDENCE – Erica Saccoccio and Christine Alexander, sisters who own A Family Tree School Age Enrichment Program in Warwick, will be honored next month as the 2010 Rhode Island Minority Small Business Persons of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
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“Erica and Christine are tremendously successful professional business owners who are an inspiration, especially to minority and women entrepreneurs,” said Mark S. Hayward, director of the SBA’s district office in Providence. “I am particularly pleased that the SBA supported substantial financial assistance to their business. They are truly deserving of recognition.”
The sisters founded their business in 2007 with technical assistance from the Center for Women & Enterprise in Providence. They capitalized on their many years of child care experience, the SBA said, to develop a program that would provide safe, affordable day care during work hours. In the last three years, the company has grown from one school location to three facilities in Warwick.
They will receive their award at the Rhode Island Minority Enterprise Development Week Congressional Roundtable and Awards Breakfast, scheduled for Oct. 12 at 8:30 a.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Providence-Warwick. The awards ceremony will be preceded by a panel discussion with members of the Rhode Island congressional delegation.
Minority enterprise week, Oct. 12 to Oct. 15, is co-sponsored by the SBA, the Rhode Island Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce, the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center, SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), Center for Women & Enterprise and Progreso Latino. More information is available at the SBA website, www.sba.gov/ri, or by contacting the Hispanic American Chamber at (401) 331-2615.
Several local organizations also present awards to minority businesses at the same event.
The Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce will honor Yolanda Langley, of Vida Sana in Providence, with the 2010 R.I. Hispanic Small Business Award.
The R.I. Small Business Development Center will honor John and Christine Weeden, of Kidz Kastle in Warwick, as 2010 Entrepreneurs of the Year, and Steve Cronin, of Mercury Print & Mail in Pawtucket, as 2010 Civic Entrepreneur of the Year.
Rhode Island Housing will honor Providence-based Community Works Rhode Island, the Stand Corp. of Warwick, Edward A. Fish Associates and Dellbrook Construction, both of Braintree, Mass., with 2010 Affirmative Action Awards.
Center for Women & Enterprise, based in Providence, will honor Emilia Paneto of Emilia’s Blessings, North Providence, with the 2010 Women in Business Award.
Progreso Latino, based in Central Falls, will present Silvia Merida, of the International Printing Corporation in Cranston, with the 2010 Community Advocate of the Year Award.
In addition, the SBA in Providence will present gold, silver and bronze awards to the local financial institutions that have made the most SBA-backed loans to Rhode Island minority small businesses. The awardees will be determined after the federal fiscal year closes Sept. 30.
