SBA Hall of Fame Honors the No-Longer-Small The Small Business Administration is inducting 23 companies that started small and grew to be big into its Golden Anniversary Hall of Fame. “What most people don’t know is that all of these big businesses started out small and received help from the SBA,” said SBA Administrator Hector Barreto. “Their success was the result of hard work and an unwavering commitment to excellence.” Trophies will be presented during this week’s National Entrepreneurial Conference and Expo in Washington. The Hall of Famers are: Allen-Edmonds Shoe Corp., Port Washington, WI, SBA 7(a) loans totaling $2,265,000 from 1979-1989; Alvarado Construction Inc., Denver, commercial construction contractor, SBA loan in 1979 for $100,000 and 8(a) program graduate; America Online Inc., Dulles, VA, five SBA-licensed small business investment company venture capital financings for $1,250,943 from 1985-1987; Black Enterprise Magazine, New York, SBA financial assistance 1969, $175,000 loan; Callaway Golf Co., golf clubs and accessories manufacturer, Carlsbad, CA, two SBA-licensed SBICs provided $1,008,100 in venture capital from 1985-1990; Cerner Corp., medical information systems designer, Kansas City, MO, $200,000 7(a) loan in 1983 and SBA-licensed SBIC financing of $630,000 in 1986; El Dorado Furniture, Opa Locka, FL, SBA loan of $10,000 in 1967; Eskimo Joe’s, restaurant and apparel, Stillwater, OK., $75,000 SBA loan in 1988; FedEx Corp., Memphis, TN, five SBA-licensed SBICs provided $3,792,000 in 1973 and 1974; General Mills Inc. for the Totino’s Pizza Brand, frozen pizza manufacturer and distributor, Minneapolis, $50,000 SBA 7(a) loan for Totino’s Finer Foods in 1963; Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, CA, Compaq Computer, received $250,000 in venture capital funding (HP and Compaq merged in 2002); Intel Corp., semiconductor chip manufacturer, Santa Clara, CA, SBA-licensed SBIC invested $299,390 in 1969; Jenny Craig Inc., personal weight-loss management, Carlsbad, CA, SBA-licensed SBIC invested $9,000,000 financing in 2002; Manufacturing Technology Inc., military and aerospace technology, Fort Walton Beach, FL, 8(a) program graduate and 7(a) loans for $250,000 in 1989, $200,000 in 1990; Outback Steakhouse Inc., Tampa, Fla., SBA-licensed SBIC invested $150,972 in 1990; Panda Restaurant Group Inc., Rosemead, CA, 7(a) loan for $25,000 in 1973; Radio One Inc., radio network, Lanham, MD, SBA-licensed SBIC loans totaling $9.5 million from six venture capital firms from 1995-1999; Ruiz Food Products, Dinuba, CA, 7(a) loans in 1977 and 1979 totaling $275,000; SCORE counseling; Staples Inc., Framingham, MA, SBA-licensed SBIC provided $1.5 million in 1987; Sun Microsystems Inc., Santa Clara, CA, SBA-licensed SBIC assistance for $30,000; The Gymboree Corp., child development programs and clothing, Burlingame, CA, five SBA-licensed SBICs invested $4,996,964 million. Winnebago Industries Inc., Forest City, IA, $75,000 7(a) loan in 1960; SBA loan for $390,000, 1965; Yoshida Group, diversified products and business services, Portland, OR, two $75,000 7(a) loans.