Ride-Away owner, seven others earn 2006 SBA awards
Mark S. Lore, president of Ride-Away Handicap Equipment Corp., leads the list of New Hampshirites honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration as part of its Small Business Week 2006 awards program.
Lore – whose firm is the East Coast’s largest provider of modified vehicles and adaptive equipment for the disabled – is the SBA’s 2006 Small Business Person of the Year for New Hampshire.
The Londonderry-based firm, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has 10 locations and employs 160 people. Its 2005 sales are projected to be $40 million — a 25 percent increase from 2004.
Other winners for 2006 are:
• Matthew Mowry, editor of Business NH magazine, named the SBA’s 2006 NH Small Business Journalist of the Year as well as the Region I New England Small Business Journalist of the Year.
• Jody T. Rodgers, founder of The Barking Dog Ltd., Hooksett, named the 2006 Woman Business Owner of the Year.
• Roger Goldenberg of Portsmouth, the 2006 Home-Based Business Champion of the Year. Goldenberg, the Portsmouth Cultural Commission’s Arts Space Committee chairman, oversees exploration of space for arts and artists for living, performing and exhibition.
• Mary W. McLaughlin, senior vice president, TD Banknorth N.A., the “2006 Financial Services Champion of the Year.” McLaughlin manages all commercial lending activities in the Concord, Hillsboro and Laconia regions. In 1983, she co-founded the New Hampshire International Trade Association and is a member of the loan review committee of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, which manages a variety of credit program for some of New Hampshire’s smaller businesses.
• Elizabeth Early Sheehan, owner of Organizational Solutions of Deering, named the SBA’s 2006 Women in Business Champion of the Year for New Hampshire. A professional organizer, she provides businesses and consumers with information, tools and systems so they can better organize their business structure and their lives.
• James D. Helm Jr. of Stratham, named the 2006 SCORE Counselor of the Year. Helm is the New Hampshire district director for SCORE and also volunteers with the Seacoast Chapter in Portsmouth.
• Dr. William R. Osgood, president of the Knowledge Institute of East Kingston was named the 2006 Special District Champion of the Year. The Knowledge Institute — an academic institution specializing in providing research, education and consulting services to nonprofit and for-profit organizations — is the host of BUZGate, Business Utility Zone Gateway, a business-to-business resource portal providing access to over 100,000 small business assistance programs across the country.
All of the winners will be recognized at the New Hampshire SBA’s annual Salute to Small Business luncheon, to be held Tuesday, May 2, at C.R. Sparks in Bedford.
“Small Business Week provides SBA with the opportunity to honor and acknowledge the contributions of the New Hampshire small-business community and highlight the achievements and successes of a number of deserving business people and their champions,” said SBA New Hampshire Director William K. Phillips. “The majority of businesses in New Hampshire are small businesses and they are vitally important to the New Hampshire economy.”
For further information on the luncheon, contact the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center at 862-2200.
