Nominations

For 32 years, Northwest Indiana has recognized the achievements of outstanding entrepreneurs and small business owners. The awards are sponsored by the Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center (NW-ISBDC) in concert with leading universities and businesses in our region.

Our 2023 nomination season is closed. Thank you for your nominations this year! Beyond our traditional categories of Small Business Person of the Year and Small Business Advocate, we have added Advocate for Youth Entrepreneurship to spotlight community members who are mentoring our next generation of innovators.

Nominate an entrepreneur or advocate!

Please use fillable PDF nomination forms for each category listed below. Just click on the category to access each form, fill it out and save to your hard drive before emailing the completed form to northwest@isbdc.org. Please include 2 digital photos of the nominee and/or business. Additional support for nominations can include letters of recommendation, website or news clips, resumes or company marketing material, etc.
Nominators who prefer to provide the information in another typewritten format may email the document.

Who is eligible
for nomination?