San Antonio Business Journal by Tamarind Phinisee, Reporter
Date: Friday, September 30, 2011, 1:28pm CDT
Armando “Rocky” Aranda, Jr., owner and president of general contracting company MILCON Construction LLC, has been named Minority Small Business Person of the Year for the San Antonio Small Business Administration (SBA) district office and for Region VI.
The San Antonio district office for the Small Business Administration (SBA) falls within Region VI, which encompasses Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana.
MILCON is a small disadvantaged business, SBA 8(a) and HUBZone certified company that was established in October 2006. The company has been awarded numerous federal contracts, receiving continued business development, training and advice from SBA.
Aranda is one of nine regional winners who have been competing for the title of National Minority Small Business Person of the Year during the 29th annual Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week conference in Washington, D.C. The conference is hosted by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency.
All regional winners will also be recognized at a gala to be held Friday night, Sept. 30. The national winner also will be named at the gala.
Aranda says he is honored to have been recognized and has enjoyed the MED Week conference.
“This event, I think, is one of the premier events for small business throughout the country. ... ,” Aranda says. “This is a very targeted, very pointed type forum.”
He adds that he has truly benefited by being in the SBA’s 8(a) program — which he says has broadened contracting opportunities while narrowing the number of businesses with which he competes. Furthermore, participating in federal contracting has increased profit margins, Aranda says. “In the business world I have found that government contracting is what entrepreneurs should get into. ... It really opened doors,” Aranda says. “I laud the work of the SBA and the Small Business Minority Entrepreneur Council. They have done a lot of good for the (small business) community. ... And as you know in this business arena and the economic conditions that the country is in we could use a lot more entrepreneurs and small businesses to get involved.”
Tamarind Phinisee covers finance, Mexico/trade and education.
