Placers prez Christopher Burkhard named an SBA businessperson of the year

National Small Business Week 2020 is May 2 to 9, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced the Small Business Person of the Year winners from each state and district in the U.S.

The Delaware honoree is Christopher Burkhard, who is president of Placers, the Newark/Milford staffing and recruitment company originally founded by his father, Alan Burkhard, in 1972. The original company was sold in 1999, but the brand was revived in Delaware by Christopher in 2011, when his recruitment company, The CBI Group (now Placers) started getting requests for temporary employees, a specialty of his father’s company.

Placers was one of 11 Delaware companies to make the Inc. 5000 in 2019, ranking at #3,195. It was Placers’ sixth time making the list.

Burkhard and the other honorees, including winners from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam, are invited to receive the award in person in D.C. this May. During the ceremonies, the SBA will announce the 2020 National Small Business Person of the Year.

Other winners in the region include:

• Pennsylvania — Cynthia T. Gallo, president, Fiber Business Solutions Group
• Maryland — Dr. Anton Che Bizzell, president and CEO, The Bizzell Group 
• District of Columbia — Christi Venable, CEO/therapist, SMILE Therapy Services