The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center honored top performers with Employee Excellence Awards at its statewide meeting Oct. 11 in Little Rock.
The awards were presented by ASBTDC State Director Laura Fine.
Awards in three categories – startups, capital projects, and capital acquisition – recognized outstanding performance in ASBTDC’s major consulting metrics.
Startup Star Ronda Hawkins of Arkansas Tech University and Wendy Orvis of UA Little Rock were honored for assisting with the most new business starts.
Recognized for each assisting their clients with more than 36 funded capital projects for the year were Capital Projects Star Ronda Hawkins, who did 90, along with Mary Beth Brooks, UA Fayetteville; Robert Bahn, Arkansas State University; and Janell Owens Reeves, Southern Arkansas University.
Mary Beth Brooks earned Capital Acquisition Star for helping clients obtain more than $23.7 million in capital investment for the year, an ASBTDC record.
Five others were honored as top performers in capital acquisition by being named to the millions club. The club celebrates the dollar amount of loans and other capital the consultants helped their clients attain in a year.
- $12 Million – Nicolas Mayerhoeffer (UA Little Rock)
- $10 Million – Ronda Hawkins (ATU)
- $7 Million – Robert Bahn (ASU), Lori Lieblong (UA Fayetteville)
- $6 Million – Laura Miller (ASU)
Four new awards were given. Winners were selected by a panel of guest judges from nominations submitted by the network.
Florence Nunn of SAU was named Rising Star. The award honors a network member under age 40 with fewer than three years of service with ASBTDC who has excelled in their position.
Market research duo Robert Dunn and Harrison Hudson of the Lead Center at UA Little Rock received the Game Changer of the Year award that recognizes a network member, collaborative team, or center for an innovative addition to ASBTDC services.
Catherine Corley of UA Fayetteville was named Collaborator of the Year for outstanding collaboration, an ASBTDC core value.
Ambassador of the Year went to Bill Sabo of the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith. The award recognizes the member of the network who excelled at promoting ASBTDC in their region or the state through outreach, media, and other activities.
ASBTDC also celebrated four team members’ state and national honors:
- Janell Owens Reeves (SAU) – America’s SBDC State Star
- Brandon Horvath (UA Little Rock) – America’s SBDC 40 Under 40
- Laura Miller (ASU) – Talk Business & Politics 2022 NEA Women in Business
- Diego Morales Ibarra (UA Little Rock) – Arkansas Business 20 in Their Twenties