SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SmartBiz Loans®, the #1 online bank network facilitating SBA loans for small businesses is celebrating Small Business Saturday® by awarding Bricks4Kidz Atlanta $1000 for being chosen as “SmallBiz of the Year” for 2020. Bricks4Kidz Atlanta was selected for the award because it exemplified business resilience during the 2020 pandemic. Nominations for the Small Biz of the Year award came from a pool of SmartBiz customers who had an SBA 7(a) or term loan successfully funded by a bank in the SmartBiz network from December 2019 to October 2020.
Bricks4Kidz Atlanta, owned by Benjamin Leblois, is an internationally renowned and recognized S.T.E.A.M program providing after-school programs, in-school workshops, and summer camps to children between the ages of 3 and 13. Due to COVID, their business model pivoted successfully from in-person instruction to online distance learning.
“We are thrilled to recognize this forward-thinking business during these trying times,” says Evan Singer, CEO of SmartBiz Loans. “This creative business owner has used new strategies to pivot their enterprise and continue contributing to the strengthening of the U.S. economy. With the important holiday season approaching, it’s even more important to elevate entrepreneurs across America doing their part to rebuild.”
“We are humbled and honored to be recognized with this award,” said Bricks4Kidz Atlanta CEO Ben Leblois. “In these challenging times, our SBA funds will play a significant part in helping us to invest in innovative business lines that have emerged in a changing market. We're incredibly excited to continue to invest in our e-learning services, ramping up the number of students we serve, but also investing in digital infrastructure and services that meet our customers’ needs and demands. We believe e-learning is the future of our business and are incredibly excited for this next chapter and expansion of our business.”
SmartBiz Loans created the annual SmallBiz of the Year award in 2018 to recognize the contributions of small businesses to the U.S. economy. This year, the award focused on businesses who are successfully managing their business to survive the 2020 economic downturn. In 2019, there were 28.8 million small businesses in the United States with 56.8 million employees, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. However, economists project that more than 100,000 small businesses have shut permanently since the pandemic escalated in March 2020 according to a study by the University of Illinois, Harvard Business School, and the University of Chicago.
As a result, this year’s Small Business Saturday is more important than ever and will be observed this year on Saturday, November 28 to encourage consumers to "Shop Small" and bring more holiday shopping to small businesses. Shoppers, small businesses, and civic leaders come together to support small businesses and help their communities thrive. Download the free SmartBiz Loans Back to Business Resource Guide for ideas and inspiration on how to bounce back from the events of this year here.
ABOUT SMARTBIZ LOANS
SmartBiz Loans® (www.smartbizloans.com) is the #1 online platform for traditional SBA 7(a) loans under $350,000 helping banks and their clients streamline the SBA and small business lending process. SmartBiz has helped banks on the platform process more than $4 billion in PPP, SBA 7(a), and bank term loans serving over 20,000 businesses and supporting 300,000 jobs.
SmartBiz Loans is based in San Francisco and was founded in 2009 by a team of experienced financial services entrepreneurs with backing from leading venture capital firms including Venrock, Investor Growth Capital, First Round Capital, Baseline Ventures, and Uncork Capital. Learn more at www.smartbizloans.com.
