VIEW ACCEPTANCE SPEECH: Barton Horowitz receives SBA Award in April, 2010

Staten Island, N.Y.  —  Rep. Michael E. McMahon has commended Barton Horowitz and Linda Baran, both from Staten Island, for being among this year’s U.S. Small Business Administration award winners.  In April, the New York District Office of the SBA honored six of the area’s top small-business advocates in celebration of National Small Business Week. 

 At the April 23 awards ceremony in Manhattan, Horowitz, president of Relevant Public Relations LLC;  Ms. Baran, president and CEO of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, and four others, were honored for being champions of small businesses.  Horowitz was presented with the prestigious 2010 Financial Services Champion of the Year Award.  Ms. Baran was recognized with the Women in Business Champion of the Year Award.

“I applaud District Director Pravina Raghavan and her SBA staff for recognizing the contributions that Bart Horowitz and Linda Baran have made to Staten Island’s business community for the last two decades,” said Rep. Michael E. McMahon.  “And I’m extremely proud that two of the six winners announced today by the SBA are from Staten Island.  Bart and Linda are tireless advocates for small businesses and I look forward to working with them going forward to improve economic opportunities throughout the borough.”

Both Islanders were been nominated for the awards by Dean L. Balsamini, director of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the College of Staten Island.

“I am especially proud that the nominees I submitted on behalf of the SBDC at CSI were selected and honored …  by the SBA,” Balsamini said. “… Both Linda Baran and Bart Horowitz  have been strong advocates for small-business initiatives on Staten Island; and I congratulate them for their well-deserved awards.”