Machinist named nation's small business person of the year

Eric A. Hoover of Conneaut Lake, Pa., who overcame childhood rheumatoid arthritis and built a thriving machine tool company from scratch in the scenic northwestern Pennsylvania resort town where he was born and raised, was recognized as National Small Business Person of the Year during ceremonies Thursday at SBA Small Business Week 2006, the agency's two-day conference marking National Small Business Week. "Every year, the SBA selects a small business owner who epitomizes the creativity and commercial risk-taking that are the characteristics of a successful American entrepreneur," said SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto. "These are the qualities that make small businesses such a great force in the American economy, and these are the characteristics that make Eric Hoover the National Small Business person of the Year. His company, Excalibur Machine Company, embodies the best of entrepreneurship, citizenship, and the American dream." First runner-up is Andrew Field, founder and president of PrintingForLess.com of Livingston, Montana. Second runner-up is Robert Shatto, president and CEO of Shatto Farms, of Osborn, Missouri. Also announced today was the winner of the National SCORE Chapter of the Year, the Cincinnati SCORE chapter. The volunteer counselors of Cincinnati SCORE provided help to more than 3,400 entrepreneurs through counseling and workshops last year, a record year for the chapter and a 25 percent increase over the previous year, according to Chapter Chair Mary Jane Good. Hoover's company, Excalibur Machine Company was founded in 1988. Excalibur provides original equipment manufacturing, machining and fabricating services for major manufacturing companies. In the past five years Excalibur has experienced continual growth in a difficult industry, and has posted sales growth of more than 350 percent, giving Hoover the time to launch three other companies: Camelot Consolidated, a sales organization; Blade Transport, a trucking firm and Lancelot Construction, a construction firm. The company serves manufacturers of locomotives, rail cars, material handling systems and equipment for mining, glass handling and heavy construction. Hoover was born and raised in Conneaut Lake, a small town in northwest Pennsylvania. At an early age, Eric was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and although doctors predicted he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, Eric was determined to prove them wrong and fulfill his dream of making a difference in the lives of those in need. Andrew Field, the first runner-up, is what one might call a "serial entrepreneur," having launched three successful businesses since 1976. His current venture, PrintingForLess.com, started in 1999 with 6 employees and $600,000 annual sales when a customer at his conventional print shop asked him to print a brochure that had been created on a computer. Today, that company has grown to 125 employees, posting more than $20 million in sales, and is working on the construction of a 46,500 sq. foot, state-of-the-art facility set for completion in May 2006. PrintingForLess.com has been named to Inc. Magazine's 500 fastest growing companies in the United States for a third year in a row, and is a leader in the field of Internet- based color printing. Big dreams, new ideas, perseverance and SBA financial backing gave the second runner-up, Robert "Leroy" Shatto, the drive and wherewithal to save his family's dairy farm and restore its profitability. Marrying into a family that had been milking Holsteins in Missouri since the 1800s, Shatto embraced new ideas and equipment that turned him from a producer who sold his milk to other processors into a bottler who sells a variety of finished dairy products directly to stores. After consulting with SCORE, Shatto developed the idea of reaching out to families with great-tasting raw milk with no hormones or chemicals added. Through dogged determination to succeed, several SBA-backed loans and timely business counseling and assistance, Shatto Farms, Inc., today employs 20 full- time and part-time employees, delivers its products to 56 stores, and has become a home-grown small business success story. The national small business awards are a highlight of SBA Small Business Week, the agency's annual celebration honoring the nation's leading small business entrepreneurs, co-sponsored by SCORE, "Counselors to America's Small Business." The winners are selected on their record of stability, growth in employment and sales, financial condition, innovation, response to adversity, and community service. For more information on these companies and on the rest of the state Small Business Person of the Year award winners, visit the SBA Web site at http://www.sba.gov/expo/ and click on "2005 Winners." For additional information on Small Business Week 2006, including a full schedule of events and information on all award winners, go online to http://www.sba.gov/sbw.