LANSING – Michigan’s outstanding small businesses will receive statewide recognition on April 19 as the state’s major business organizations and agencies collaborate for the second annual Michigan Celebrates Small Business event.
The cooperative effort ? which will name the Michigan 50 Companies to Watch, as well as Small Business Person of the Year ? is hosted by SBAM, the Edward Lowe Foundation, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center and the U.S. Small Business Administration/Michigan.
?Michigan Celebrates Small Business is a tremendous, collaborative event that recognizes the best of Michigan?s entrepreneurial spirit by bringing together the key organizations and agencies in our state that support the growth and prosperity of the small business community,? said Carol Lopucki, state director of the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center.
More than 700 business owners and supporters of small business will attend. It begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 19 at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing, with a private reception with Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who will give the opening address, followed by dinner and the awards presentations.
Awards to be presented include Small Business Person of the Year, Minority Small Business Champion of the Year, Women in Business Champion of the Year, Small Business Journalist of the Year, Financial Services Champion of the Year, Small Business Counselor of the Year, Government Contracting Award, Main Street USA- Best Small Business and Innovation of the Year Award.
In addition, the ?Michigan 50 Companies to Watch? for 2006 will be honored. The select list will recognize and celebrate the contributions, innovation and energy of the wide variety of second-stage companies in the state. Startup companies and large corporations often garner attention for their achievements, but growing second-stage enterprises (working mostly behind the scenes) generate the bulk of new, sustainable jobs and are a powerful economic force underpinning the high quality of life most Americans enjoy. The ?Michigan 50 Companies to Watch? is sponsored by the Edward Lowe Foundation.
Event participants are the Accident Fund, one of the nation’s leading Workers Compensation insurers, operating in 42 states and the District of Columbia; Clark Hill PLC, serving the business, government, nonprofit and personal needs of clients throughout Michigan and beyond since 1890; Microsoft, delivering innovative and integrated technologies designed to meet small and midsize businesses’ specific needs; and National City Corporation, one of the nation?s largest financial holding companies operating through an extensive banking network primarily in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Pennsylvania.
Media sponsors are Crain?s Detroit Business, the Greater Lansing Business Monthly, MiBiz West, MITECHNEWS.com, Traverse City Business News, Upper Peninsula Business Today, WJR Radio-Detroit and Business Today WILX-TV10 Lansing-Jackson.
Reservations can be found at MichiganCelebrates.Biz
