Teresa Porter recalls clearing out a bedroom for an office and entertaining clients in her kitchen because she couldn’t afford to wine and dine them at a restaurant.
That was back in 2002, and the owner of ISYS Technologies, an engineering and information technology service firm based in Littleton, said she couldn’t wait to move into an actual office.
Thirteen years later, Porter’s desire now, she said, is trying to find ways to spend more time at home.
The U.S. Small Business Administration recognized Porter as its Colorado Small Business Person of the Year during an awards lunch on Wednesday in Aurora, one of several events nationally tied to Small Business Week 2015.
From just two employees and less than $1 million of revenues when Porter took over, the had more than $22 million of sales last year plus more than 200 employees and subcontractors.
Pathfinder Systems and its president, Sheila Jaszlics, also were recognized as the Colorado Small Business Exporter of the Year. The Arvada firm, which makes military flight simulators, recently won a contract with the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
Denver-based Allegiance Consulting and CEO George Byrd were recognized with the SBA Region VIII Subcontractor of the Year.
Andrea Amonick, Aurora’s development services manager, was given the Amy McDowell Service to Small Business award, and Joe Keck, outdoing director of the Southwest Colorado Small Business Development Center in Durango, won an award for SBDC Excellence and Innovation in Colorado.
U.S. Bank, Colorado Business Bank, Colorado Lending Source, Preferred Lending Partners and the Colorado Enterprise Fund won awards for small-business lending.
Last fiscal year was a record year for SBA lending, driven in part by a reduction of fees on loans of under $150,000, said Robert Hill, associate administrator with the U.S. SBA.
Hill said the SBA has rolled out the first Cabinet-level agency website fully translated into Spanish and has an online matching site that links small businesses and lenders .
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com
