(Seattle) Mayor's Small Business Awards Nominations Due by July 18, 2007

According to the Web site, ten winners will be selected by the panel of nine judges, a mix of past winners of the Mayor’s Small Business Awards and owners of small businesses of different types and in different neighborhoods, and professionals who work with small businesses in non-profit business support organizations.

The judges will be reviewing the nomination forms with the following judging criteria in mind:

• Business History
• Management Practices
• Entrepreneurial Spirit and Customer Service
• Community Involvement
• Overall Impression

Who can be nominated? Your own business, your exceptional small business clients, associates, suppliers, vendors, or neighbors.

Are there eligibility requirements?

The Mayor encourages small businesses ranging from microenterprises (defined as revenues below $100,000 dollars per year and five or fewer employees) to businesses with annual revenues less than $10 million to apply.

To be eligible for consideration, your business must:

• be a for-profit business or
• you must be an individual (I think partnerships and S corps can apply as well) owning a small business;
• located within the Seattle city limits;
• employ between 1 and 100 people (I personally think this should be less than 20);
• have been in business for at least three years (sorry Dan and Laura -- next year?);
• have annual sales of less than $10 million dollars (I personally think this should be lower, say a million);
• have a current City of Seattle business license and currently paid City B&O taxes.

Business franchises (I think MLMs would fit into that category), not-for-profit organizations and past winners of the Mayor’s Small Business Awards are ineligible.

How do I nominate a business? Contact Office of Economic Development staff members Tinná White, 206-684-4008 / mailto:tinna.white@seattle.gov or Karin Zaugg Black, 206-733-9810 / mailto:karin.zaugg@seattle.gov, to request a nomination form, or download the form. Contact the above folks if you need help with the form.

Prizes for Nominees: Prizes include a 2007 Mayor's Small Business Award Nominee window decal and your company name listed in an announcement in an ad in a major local newspaper.