Pegasus + two: SBA honors several for their growth and high credentials.

• Author: Stomierowski, Peg

Officials of Small Business Administration offices in Anchorage welcome a wider field of applicants for a series of awards made each spring. Three separate categories were awarded--Small Businesspersons of the Year, Women-Owned Business and Minority-Owned Business.

Being cited this year for recognition in the Woman-Owned Business category is the Alaska Center for Natural Medicine in Fairbanks, a natural health clinic owned by Heather Carmichael. Being cited in 2007 for recognition as a Minority-Owned Business is Coldfoot Environmental Services in Anchorage, owned by Cuauhtemoc "Rod" Rodriguez. The firm conducts environmental abatement and demolition construction.

Pegasus Aircraft Maintenance, whose Carlos Nelson and Roy Ardern are being recognized in the Small Businesspersons category, was nominated by Earl Carson, loan officer at KeyBank, Alaska District. Selection criteria emphasizes steady growth over the last three years in excess of what's typical for business.

Judges score businesses after perusing their submissions. The panel of judges that selected Pegasus included, in Anchorage, Linda Garrett, owner of Garrett Bookkeeping and Adam Galindo, president of Taco Loco Products, along with Todd Saunders of Alaska Executive Search in Juneau. Over 20 years, a handful of the award winners have included Alaska Mint, The Lucky Wishbone and Mystrom Advertising in Anchorage and the Great Alaska Brewing Co. in Juneau.

Three awards are decided nationally after state awards (plus District of Columbia, Virgin Islands and Guam) are in. They are Small-Businessperson, Prime Contractor Subcontractor of the Year. Additionally, nominations are not required for three small-business lender awards, which are judged by business volume: 7(a) Lender of the Year, 504 Lender of the Year, and Export Lender of the...