Building a Better America Through Entrepreneurship Focal Point of Metro New York SBA National Small Business Week Honors

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) New York District has announced its 2022 National Small Business Week award recipients, recognizing a city-based educational game creator as Small Business Person of the Year and presenting other local awards.

Dr. Jessica Ochoa Hendrix is the CEO and Co-Founder of Killer Snails, a Brooklyn-based company that designs immersive educational games and virtual experiences for students in grades K through 12.

She is an SBA Emerging Leaders graduate, an intensive, newly-reimagined SBA executive training program that accelerates the growth of high-potential small businesses through intensive mentoring, development classes to stimulate and support the expansion of a business through strategies designed to help access new avenues of capital and develop connections with peers, local leaders, and the financial community.

A recipient of First and Second Draw Paycheck Protection Program funding, Killer Snails used PPP proceeds to keep their employees on payroll and connected to benefits during the public health shutdown stemming from the COVID pandemic.

During this time, the company continued to bring educational games to market and grow its sales to what is expected to be its most profitable year yet as more home-based educational opportunities arose nationwide.

"Killer Snails is thrilled to have received this recognition from the Small Business Administration for our immersive educational game company. Based on research, our award-winning immersive educational science experiences have enabled our company to continue growing and inspiring more students. The Small Business Administration has been a huge source of support for Killer Snails as I have benefitted from taking part in the SBA Emerging Leaders program as well as from the Small Business Innovation Research grants that funded our product development," Ochoa Hendrix said.

The company under Ochoa Hendrix's leadership has also orchestrated a nationwide virtual piloting research and development process in schools across 30 states to ensure that their products and brand reflect the voices and needs of their teacher and student consumer base, so that Killer Snails can produce experiences that resonate with youth, increase engagement in the classroom and improve STEM education.

"Dr. Jessica Ochoa Hendrix is a true SBA success story, using the Agency's programs to help reinvent science education taught in classrooms around the nation with emerging technology. By building scalable systems, she is also overseeing the proper expenditures of over $3 million in grant funding to grow this EdTech company through the pandemic and pivoted to adapt to market changes and customer needs. SBA New York is proud to present her with its 2022 Small Business Person of the Year Award," said SBA New York District Director Beth Goldberg, who leads the nation's largest field office.

White House-appointed SBA Atlantic Regional Administrator Marlene Cintron, who oversees the federal agency's operations throughout New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also expressed her excitement regarding National Small Business Week and the Killer Snails win.

"Due to President Biden's comprehensive national vaccination strategy against COVID-19, after a two-year hiatus, SBA will be celebrating, thanking and honoring small businesses virtually and in person. Small business owners and entrepreneurs have been the lifeline in our communities during this public health crisis. We are celebrating their commitment, resiliency and contributions not just this week, but also the foreseeable future. Our nation is standing today because small businesses remained open to provide us with the essential tools and materials necessary to keep us healthy, fed and employed. They are true heroes in our economic recovery. Entrepreneurs' fearless commitment, hard work and ingenuity throughout our small business ecosystem will provide us with the tools necessary to build back better across all our communities," said Cintron.

Other Local SBA New York District Award Winners Include:

SBA New York Minority Small Business Champion of the Year - Elina Lecour, Esq. (Lecour Law, P.C.)

As a first-generation entrepreneur of Cuban and Puerto Rican decent, attorney Elina Lecour started her firm in 2003 based in Staten Island after more than a decade defending cases and litigating on behalf of insurance companies. Today, Lecour Law has grown to operate a bilingual storefront office on Castleton Avenue.

While spearheading a unit in the defense firm to address the needs of the common litigator, it became apparent her passion was to serve those in need. As the unit grew exponentially, it became clear the growth needed an appropriate response.

Lecour Law, P.C. opened a store front location in November 2013 on Port Richmond Avenue, Staten Island, New York. It was the first of its kind, serving the needs of the English and Spanish speaking community. Within one year of its existence, the needs of the community continued to grow and Lecour Law, P.C. responded with opening its doors at its current location, across from the Richmond County Civil Court.

Elina and her firm used a COVID EIDL Advance to keep their operations going throughout the pandemic as the New York State Court System halted during the pandemic. Elina and her firm are also clients of the local Small Business Development Center, which offers free and low-cost small business mentoring and advisory services from trained business advisors.

SBA New York Veterans Small Business Champion of the Year - Nicholas M. Auletta (TruView BSI LLC)

Based in Hicksville, Long Island, TruView BSI LLC is a veteran-owned small business. President Nick Auletta is a former U.S. Army Captain and two-time Bronze Star awardee, having spent over 44 months and three tours of duty deployed in Iraq combat zones.

Auletta used his experience in the armed forced to build TruView BSI to offer customized pre-employment screening and employment monitoring programs, business intelligence for contractors who want to differentiate themselves from their competitors with best-practices employment standard. TruView recently was verified as a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, complementing the company's New York State SDVOB certification.

The firm leveraged a COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan to meet expenses that normally could have been paid if not for the COVID pandemic. The small business also tapped into First and Second Draw Paycheck Protection Program forgivable loans issued through Web Bank and Customers Bank respectively to keep the company's workers paid and connected to their benefits during the public health emergency.

Auletta and TruView BSI were previously recognized by an SBA resource partner for exemplifying how veteran and small business entrepreneurs can make a positive impact on the state's economy.

Woman Small Business Champion of the Year - Soyini Chan Shue (City Safe Partners Security)

Soyini Chan Shue is the President of City Safe Partners, a minority women's business enterprise offering security services and private investigations. The firm has over 95 years of combined law enforcement and security industry experience and provides unarmed and armed security professionals to protect government, residential and commercial sites.

City Safe Partners based on Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Boulevard in Harlem used a $10,000 EIDL Advance to further fund employees' work with community-based organizations, training eligible job candidates and supporting them as they transition to employment within the company.

City Safe has a vested interest in creating opportunities as well as supporting sports programs in their community, and they are active in the areas they serve; this fosters a spirit of teamwork amongst their employees who play an instrumental role in creating safer neighborhoods.

SBDC Excellence and Innovation Award - Pace University Small Business Development Center - Andrew Flamm, Director (pictured with SBA New York District Director Beth Goldberg)

The SBA New York District honors one of the 13 Small Business Development Centers operating in its coverage area on an annual basis with the SBDC Excellence and Innovation Award. The Pace University SBDC led by Executive Director Andrew Flamm are the recipients for 2022.

In addition to working closely with the SBA New York District throughout the pandemic and hosting district office leadership and staff on numerous webinars discussing Economic Aid programs, Pace SBDC far surpassed its 2021 performance metrics as well, achieving over $19.9 million in economic impact, serving more than 924 clients and directly retaining or creating close to 600 jobs due to their counseling and advising services.

The Pace SBDC has also witnessed strong demand for small business training, with nearly 2,000 training attendees, up 11 percent from the previous year and almost double the next highest annual total. Combined with continued collaboration with key stakeholders, these efforts enhanced equity and reaching underserved communities - for example, 54 percent of Pace SBDC clients are non-white and well over half are women-owned ventures.

NAME GLO, a woman-owned custom neon light studio on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, is one such success story from the Pace SBDC. Launched in 2014, the company offers high concept and approachable light-based work serving a wide array of businesses and residences.

When COVID-19 crippled the Metro New York area, NAME GLO was forced to temporarily close its storefront and studio space, forcing a pivot to online sales. Business co-owners Lena Imamura and Sas Simon contacted the Pace SBDC for advice on programs to support their business as well as strategies to expand its residential customer base.

The assistance provided by Pace SBDC directly aided NAME GLO in securing a forgivable $200,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan as well as a COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan which retained the small firm's eight jobs.

The small business awards program is part of National Small Business Week, which is being held May 1-7. This year's NSBW theme, "Building a Better America Through Entrepreneurship," highlights the resilience, ingenuity, and creativity of these award winners who, like millions of small businesses across America, have navigated challenges from the pandemic and contributed to our nation's economic comeback.

The NSBW Virtual Summit continues through May 5 and will includes honoring small businesses around the country, educational sessions, online business resources, and exciting speakers.

President Joe Biden will deliver pre-recorded remarks congratulating our National Small Business Week award winners and acknowledging the contributions of America's 32.5 million small businesses to our nation's historic economic comeback.