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Bikers for Christ and the MU Foundation are sponsoring the "Butterfly Child" charity event for helping those with Epidermolysis Bullosa. September 13, 2009 2pm - 4pm Patchogue Fire Department 15 Jennings Ave Patchogue, NY 11772

June 3, 2009 : A Fund Raising Networking Event For Grace Peshkur, a 7 year old girl with an incurable disease - Epidermolysis Bullosa For information visit: WWW.OURGRACE.ORG For donation of $20 each person will get a coupon for $22 car wash Please view the flyer here

Long Islander Wins New York State
Small Business Person of the Year
Now in Competition for National Small Business Person of the Year

New York, NY— At a Manhattan ceremony in celebration of presidentially declared National Small Business Week 2009, the New York District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration today presented Teresa M. Ward, owner of Teresa’s Family Cleaning, Inc., with the award for New York State’s top small business. Ward also won for Small Business Person of the Year in the SBA’s Region II, which includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Ward founded her residential cleaning company, Teresa’s Family Cleaning, Inc., in 1992, providing the traditional cleaning services one expects for this type of business. Along the way she added non-traditional services such as organizing and management services for senior-living facilities throughout Long Island.

That ability to adapt and grow enabled Family Cleaning to weather the current economic downturn. And rather than submit to the crisis, Ward ensures that her core group of customers is always satisfied with her company’s service. In fact, she still has her pre-crisis 12 to 14 crews out on any given day. “With the traditional spring cleaning time upon us, I feel as though we have gotten through the worst,” said Ward.

Ward started her business— not in the infamous entrepreneur’s garage— but she did start as a one-woman business in her basement. The company now owns it own building in Rocky Point, NY, employs upward of 40 cleaners, office staff and sales personnel, has a fleet of 15 vehicles and grosses well over a million in sales. Also environmentally conscious, the company now uses only “green” and eco-friendly products in its cleaning arsenal to help ensure the safety of its customers, employees and the environment.

Family Cleaning was helped through its growth stages with a loan from Community National Bank which was partially guaranteed by the SBA, as well as business management counseling from the SBA’s Stony Brook Small Business Development Center.

When her sister passed away from cancer in 2003, Ward embarked upon another mission and helped launch the Cleaning for a Reason Foundation in New York in 2006. The non-profit, along with 500 cleaning companies across the nation provides free or at-cost cleaning services for women undergoing chemotherapy. Last year she began donating company services to Habitat for Humanity, to prep the homes for their new inhabitants.

Ms. Ward’s awards prove you do not have to be some sort of exotic, high-tech business owner to win this honor,” said SBA Spokesman John J. Miller. “You just need to be good at what you do.”

The recipient of the country’s most prestigious small business award--- National Small Business Person of the Year--- will be selected from among 50 state winners and announced at the National Small Business Week 2009 ceremony in Washington, DC, May18-22, 2009.

Other SBA New York District award winners at the SBA event today included:

Family-Owned Business of the Year
Peter Negri, President & CEO
Jamaica Bearings Co.
New Hyde Park, NY

Financial Services Champion of the Year
Patrick Mackrell, President & CEO
New York Business Development Corp.
Albany, NY

Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year
Benjamin B. Hunt, Director
Department of Defense Procurement Technical Assistance Center, LaGuardia Comm. College
Long Island City, NY

Minority Small Business Champion of the Year
Rev. Carmen Hernandez, Founder & President
New York City Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender Chamber of Commerce
Bronx, NY

Women in Business Champion of the Year
Deborah Brenner, Founder & CEO
Women of the Vine Cellars, LLC
Piermont, NY

Small Business Journalist of the Year
Joan Hamburg and Liz Hamburg, Co-hosts
WOR News/Talk Radio 710
New York, NY
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All of the SBA’s programs and services are provided to the public on a non-discriminatory basis. For more information about the SBA please visit www.sba.gov/ny/ny.

LI Connects fundraiser for Grace June 3, 2009 Irish Times Holbrook

Expert Members enjoying the benefits of membership Jan DeRobertis & Linda Godek sharing a referral

Member experts discussing a hot lead: Jan DeRobertis, Expert Member in the field of Voice & Telecom and Linda Godek, Expert Member in the field of Commercial Cleaning.

Relationship building has its benefits and LI Connects makes business happen!!

Thanks to our Tradeshow Expert, John A. Hill, for capturing the moment.