THATCHER — It’s a busy week for the Small Business Development Center at Eastern Arizona College.
The deadline is Saturday for nominations of Small Business Woman of the Year for both Graham and Greenlee counties.
To qualify, nominees must:
- Be the owner or part-owner of a small business, headquartered in Gila, Graham or Greenlee County
- Own a business with 50 or fewer employees
- Be an active owner
- Be in business for a minimum of three years
- Show evidence of community involvement
The woman named Small Business Woman of the Year from each county will receive $2,000. There have been seven winners from Graham County, and four from Greenlee, since the award began in 2013.
To nominate go to Nominations are OPEN (constantcontact.com).
There are also a few spots available in this year’s second Dreambuilder program, which begins Sept. 4.
“For Graham County, in the spring this last year, we had 40 participants, and that’s a really big cohort. As a facilitator it’s kind of hard to get the feel in the classroom, and to be able to have those discussions, ‘What pertains to your business, and what works for you.’ So we decided a second cohort would be better,” said Torey Cranford, SBDC business analyst.
DreamBuilder is a 10-week course that offers step-by-step information on how to start a business — everything from defining a concept and how to secure financing, to pricing and sales. At completion, all graduates have a functional business plan.
Cost of the program is $50 is participants can register online at DreamBuilder: Graham County (arizonasbdc.com).
Sept. 4 is also the date of a cyber security luncheon seminar for small business owners, cosponsored by the SBDC and Valley Telecom.
“Valley Telecom Group contacted us and said, ‘Hey, we have this resource — a fabulous resource — (and) we want to be able to make sure that we can do something for small businesses.’ And I said, ‘Yes. We will absolutely do that with you,’ ” said Tavia Raley, program coordinator for the SBDC.
Featured speaker for the luncheon is Jerry Keely, cyber security adviser for Region 9 of the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The luncheon will take place in the EAC Activities Center, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4. There is no cost to attend but pre-registration is requested at VTC Promotion.
Previous Business Woman of the Year winners
- Graham County
- 2013 — Janet Quinn, Trophies N’ Tees
- 2014 — Kally Efros, Indigo Mountain Wellness, Toys & Gifts
- 2015 — Dr. Debbie Chapman, Desert Cross Veterinary Hospital
- 2016 — Sheryl Goodman, Taylor Freeze
- 2017 — Jenny Rogers, Safford Dance Academy
- 2018 — Jenny Howard, Ginaveve’s Marketplace
- 2019 — Margo Henrie, Fizek Fitness
- 2023 — Dr. Susan Jones, Gila Valley Clinic
- Greenlee County
- 2017 — Susan Snyder, Chase Creek Marketplace
- 2018 — Meghan Wagley, Chaparral Mini-Mart and Motel
- 2019 — Jackie Norton, PJ’s Restaurant
- 2023 — Joyann Hernandez, Sunflower Environmental
