It’s nomination time for the Delaware Small Business Awards

Winning a prestigious award can be a big-time boost for a small business — but how do business owners get considered in the first place?

Here’s your chance for consideration: The U.S. Small Business Administration Delaware District is now accepting nominations for State Small Business Awards in five categories:

• Small Business Person of the Year
• Exporter of the Year 
• Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year
• Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year
• Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year
• Young Entrepreneur of the Year
• Family-Owned Small Business of the Year

The winners of the state-level Small Business Person of the Year and Exporter of the Year will go on to compete against the winners in the other states for the national titles in those categories as part of National Small Business Week, happening May 3 to 9 (and hey, coinciding with the 10th annual Philly Tech Week).

To find out if your (or your favorite) Delaware small business qualifies, check out the SBA Size Standards, which includes a table showing the number of employees and maximum annual receipts for different industries. Businesses must also be for-profit and must have been in business for at least three years.

In order to nominate you will need to know a lot about the business, including financials, so if you think your business is deserving, go ahead and nominate yourself. Be aware that all nominations must be accompanied by a completed SBA Background Form 3300, which can not be submitted digitally — they need to be either mailed or hand-delivered to the Delaware District Office at 1105 N. Market St.

The deadline for all forms is the incredibly specific 3 p.m. on Jan. 7­­.

For all nominations except for Exporter of the Year, use this nomination form; use this form for Exporter of the Year.