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SBA Massachusetts Kicks Off National Small Business Week with Governor Baker
Norman Eng 617-565-8510
BOSTON – In honor of National Small Business Week, the SBA Massachusetts District Office along with SCORE Worcester and SCORE Boston chapters hosted an annual celebration to recognize bay state entrepreneurs at the Framingham Sheraton.
During this event, about 300 people attended to support Massachusetts award winners – including Governor Charlie Baker, who delivered the keynote speech. The highest honor, Small Business Person of the Year – went to Todd Snopkowski, President and Founder of Snapchef, a chef owned-and-operated culinary staffing firm serving the most prestigious food service companies in New England.
Snapchef is a job creation machine that currently employs about 250 people and has helped place over 1000 hospitality workers. Starting from a 300 square foot office – Todd expanded his rapidly growing company to a facility of over 7000 square feet in South Boston. In 2013, Snapchef added a new culinary training center in South Boston, which Todd Snopkowski now owns. Help from Radius Bank and Granite State Economic Development Corporation was secured to utilize the SBA 504 program that allowed him to purchase the property, and he also utilized the SBA 7A and SBA Express guaranteed loan programs to consolidate debt, and to support receivables through a traditional bank line of credit and position his business for further growth.
"Todd Snopkowski and Snapchef exemplify perfectly what this very significant SBA award is intended to recognize," said Robert H. Nelson, Massachusetts District Director of the SBA. "The business is not only rapidly growing and creating a significant number of jobs, but Todd has also touched the lives of so many over the history of the business due to his passion for the business and the community."
For Snopkowksi, it's the culmination of many years of hard work. "I am thrilled to be honored as the 'SBA Small Business Person of the Year' and am so grateful for the help I've had from them along the way. The SBA has been an invaluable resource for me, especially during our growth spurt these last few years," he says. "When your company expands at such a rapid pace, it's exciting, but if you don't make the right decisions, you can risk losing what you've worked so hard to create. I've got a great team, and a lot of incredible mentors, and I intend to pay forward what I've learned to other small business owners to help them realize their full potential."
Todd will travel to Washington D.C. this week for a special event held at the White House to honor every Small Business Person of the Year from around the country.
To learn more about all of the events happening during SBA National Small Business Week, please visit: www.SBA.gov/nsbw
AWARD LIST
Small Business Person of the Year:
Todd Snopkowski - Snapchef
Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Small Business of the Year:
Elaine J. Boone - PTS Truck-Trailer-Construction Equipment Supply
Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year:
Michael Chege & Raphael Bibiu - Ace Medical Services, Inc.
Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year:
Debra Heims - H&S Environmental, Inc.WESTBOROUGH
Microenterprise Business of the Year:
Matthew &Tina Phaneuf - BioSurfaces, Inc.
Region 1 Prime Contractor of the Year:
Arthur Mabbett - Mabbett & Associates, Inc.
Massachusetts & New England SBA Small Business Exporter of the Year:
Lester Hensley & Bashar Moussallieh - EMSEAL Joint Systems Ltd.
Massachusetts & New England SBA Financial Services Champion:
Mary Katherine Mansfield - Bay Colony Development Corporation
Massachusetts & New England SBA Small Business Development Center Excellence and Innovation Award:
Keith Girouard - Massachusetts Small Business Development Center, Berkshire Regional Office
Massachusetts & New England SBA 8(a) Graduate of the Year:
Hector Sanchez - P&S Construction, Inc.
Massachusetts SBA District Director Award:
Robert J. Viamari - Cape & Plymouth Business Magazine