Gourmet Gang

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
20 Women Business Owners Receive SBI Minerva Awards
Hampton Roads, Virginia – January 20, 2011 – Named after the Roman goddess of commerce, the 2011 SBI Minerva Awards is designed to honor local women business owners who continue to show that women excelling in business leadership aren’t a foreign concept.

This year, the inaugural year of the SBI Minerva Awards, more than 30 applications were received. An independent panel of women judges reviewed each award and voted on each application on the criteria of community service, business leadership and growth of business.
Twenty applicants were selected as the first-ever SBI Minerva Award honorees, and each honoree will be featured in the March issue of Small Business Insight of Hampton Roads, in addition to being recognized at a luncheon on April 6.

“These awards set apart women business owners from other women in business,” says editor Jessica Swink. “While it’s important to celebrate success in the workplace on any level, we want to show how business ownership has its own unique sets of challenges.”

The total revenue of all 20 of the businesses represented by SBI Minerva Award honorees tower beyond more than $165 million, and the honorees contribute to more than 577 full-time and 100 part-time employees to the Hampton Roads community.

“We hope this makes a strong statement that Hampton Roads is not only a dynamic place to own a business, but that small businesses are the foundation for a healthy economy on a local level,” Swink says.

The 2011 SBI Minerva Awards honoree luncheon is open to the public. It will be held at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Virginia Beach. Tickets are available for purchase at http://sbiminerva.eventbrite.com. In addition to recognizing each of the 2011 honorees, special guest speaker Rowena Fullinwider, formerly of Rowena’s, will deliver remarks on the unique aspects of women business ownership. Fullinwider will also receive the 2011 Minerva Lifetime Achievement Award at this time.