For the past five years the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce® (NGLCC) and founding corporate partner Wells Fargo & Co. have joined together to honor Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and/or Transgender (LGBT) business owners with the LGBT Business Owner of the Year Award. As an affiliate member of the NGLCC you have the opportunity to apply for this award and be recognized as the nation’s leading LGBT business owner for your entrepreneurial spirit. Business owners will be scored on their companies’ innovation, personal service to their community and, business performance. The winning business will receive a grant of $5,000 and be recognized along with the two finalists at the NGLCC Annual National Dinner: An Evening of Courage in Washington, DC this November.

Since the LGBT Business Owner of the Year Award began recognizing small business owners over $25,000 has been given back to the LGBT community on both local and national levels. In 2008, recipients Sean & Todd Bavol-Montgomery of Integrity Staffing Solutions in Wilmington, DE, used their grant to give a well deserving college student the opportunity to experience Washington, DC as a fellow at a national LGBT organization.  Noma Hanlon of HB Design in Portland, OR, the recipient of the 2007 LGBT Business Owner of the Year Award, provided much needed support to a local social service agency helping low-income adults and homeless youth. Other recipients of the award include Bob Witeck and Wes Combs of Washington, DC-based Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. (2006), a leading public relations and marketing strategies firm specializing in the LGBT consumer market; Howard Buford of New York, NY-based Prime Access, Inc. (2005), a full-service agency focused on advertising and marketing communications for African American, Hispanic, and LGBT consumers; and most recently, Joy Silver of Santa Fe, NM-based Rainbow Vision Properties, Inc. (2009), a family of companies dedicated to developing and operating communities to serve a growing LGBT and allied population in their "second fifty years."

Are you the next LGBT Business Owner of the Year? Business owners eligible to apply for the award must be majority (51%) LGBT owned and active principals in the company, at least 18 years of age, a legal resident of the United States, in compliance with all applicable laws/regulations, and an owner of the business for at least three (3) years. All award applications must be postmarked by June 30, 2010 to be considered.

For more information about the award and to download the application please visit: www.nglcc.org/businessaward. Questions about the award can be directed to the NGLCC by emailing businessaward@nglcc.org or calling the main office line at 202.234.9181.