hr: Money

The National Small Business Person of the Year award  has been instituted for the last 40 years. It has four criteria based on which the award is given: Overall Growth, Demonstrating Innovation, Responding to Adversity, and community involvement.

Shawn Boyer is the owner of SnagAJob.com, which operates like a job portal. It charges employers a fee to post their jobs, and provides free listing to employees. Boyer conceived SnagAJob in 1999 when he saw an opening while trying to help a friend find an internship. He dumped all his life savings into it, and raised more money from family and friends. SnagAJob has been doing well since 2004, with close to 4 million visitors each month. The total sales last year was $11 Million.

Major clients include Home Depot, JPMorgan Chase and Co., and McDonald’s.

Also, his employees regularly perform community service by volunteering at the Salvation army and Habitat for Humanity. There were three runners up from the 53 state small-business winners.

Boyer received his award on Tuesday at a function in Washington. However, he doesn’t view it as an individual accomplishment. “We view it as a team award,” he said