Jim Blasingame to Emcee Small Business Week Champions Award Gala for the SBA

Today the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that Administrator Steven C. Preston has asked renowned small business expert, Jim Blasingame, to preside over the Champion Award Winner Gala during Small Business Week 2008, in Washington, D.C., April 21-25, 2008.

On Wednesday, April 23, Blasingame will emcee the Champions Gala, sponsored by Administaff, which serves as the culminating award event to honor all the winners of the week, including the National Small Business Person(s) of the Year and winners of the numerous Advocate awards. The Gala will be held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Conference Center. This is Blasingame's 11th consecutive year to support the SBA during Small Business Week.

"We're thankful to Jim for always making his talents and energy available to the SBA," said SBA Administrator Preston. "His consistent support of our efforts over the past 11 years is further evidence of his dedication to helping entrepreneurs follow their dreams."

Recognized as one of the world's leading small business experts and thought-leaders on entrepreneurship, Blasingame is the creator and award-winning host of the nationally syndicated weekday radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show. He is also a syndicated newspaper columnist, author of two books and founder of the small business knowledgebase, AskJim.biz http://www.askjim.biz.

"I'm excited and honored to be invited back to work with the SBA during Small Business Week, especially this year; since it's my 11th year to support the SBA," said Blasingame. "The SBA does important work on behalf of America's small business es, and all of the people there are top notch professionals."

Blasingame was the recipient of the SBA's 2002 Small Business Journalist of the Year award, and he is also a member of the SBA's National Advisory Council. TALKERS Magazine has named Blasingame one of the most important talk show hosts in America.

Since 1997 Blasingame has conducted over 1,000 interviews annually on his talk show, reaching millions of small business owners worldwide through his multi-channel content distribution network. He is the president of Small Business Network, Inc., which produces and distributes multi-media small business content worldwide, including The Small Business Advocate Show, which broadcasts nationwide on radio, plus a live Internet simulcast and two on-demand Internet audio streams.

Blasingame's content and resources can be found at SmallBusinessAdvocate.com (http://www.SmallBusinessAdvocate.com) , And AskJim.biz (http://www.AskJim.biz) . His corporate sponsors include IBM (http://www.ibm.com/smallbusiness) , Administaff (http://www.administaff.com/small-business-tools.asp) and Aflac (http://www.aflac.com) .

Contact:

Davonna Hickman, Vice President

Small Business Network, Inc.

888-823-2366

dsb @ jbsba.com

Christine Mangi, SBA Press Secretary

Small Business Administration

202-205-6948

Christine.Mangi @ sba.gov

Jim Blasingame to Emcee Small Business Week Champions Award Gala for the SBA