Press Release
Contact: Robert Caudle |
Phone: (919) 549-7500 ext. 107 |
CED Honors Coastal Small Business Award Winners
CED and Hosting Partners Present Annual Awards on June 8 at UNCW’s Warwick Center
June 8, 2007, Research Triangle Park, N.C. – The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), along with its hosting partners, honored Coastal area entrepreneurs during the 11th Annual Coastal Small Business Awards program on June 8 at the UNCW Warwick Center in Wilmington, N.C. More than 130 people attended the sold-out celebration.
The 2007 award winners include:
- Young Entrepreneur of the Year – Justin Queen, president, Blu Zeus Interactive Marketing
- Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year – Alton Herndon & Frank Longino, managing partners, Southport Boat Works, LLC
- Established Entrepreneur of the Year – Karen Carter, president, Wrightsville Beach Landscaping, Inc.
- Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year – Mark Johnson, president, Mark Johnson Custom Homes, Inc.
- Burgaw Area Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year – Niels Jorgensen, president, Kiln-Direct.com
- Greater Hampstead Chamber of Commerce Emerging Business of the Year – SFI Group, Inc., accepted by owners Michelle & Scott Wheeler
- Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year – Roxanne Thompson, owner, Island Florals by Roxanne
The U.S. Small Business Administration also presented its certificate of appreciation to Andrew O’Flaherty, president of SCORE, for the organization’s outstanding service to entrepreneurs.
"This year's award winners highlight the important role that entrepreneurs play in economic growth in the Coastal community," said CED President Monica Doss. “Each winner showcases the essence of the entrepreneurial spirit that is the driving force behind the vitality of North Carolina’s economy.”
Host sponsors for this awards event included the BCC Small Business Center, Burgaw Area Chamber of Commerce, CFCC Small Business Center, Cranfill, Sumner and Hartzog, Greater Hampstead Chamber of Commerce, Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce, SCORE, UNCW Cameron School of Business, UNCW Small Business Technology & Development Center, U.S. Small Business Administration, and the Wilmington Industrial Development Authority.
For more details on the event, visit www.bizawards.biz.
About CED: The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) is a private, non-profit organization formed in 1984 to identify, enable and promote high growth, high impact entrepreneurial companies and to accelerate the entrepreneurial culture of the Research Triangle and North Carolina. Headquartered in the Research Triangle with a divisional office in Wilmington, CED is the largest and oldest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 4,000 members representing over 1,100 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. www.cednc.org
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