Financial Services Champion of the Year
Steven Cohen
Excelsior Growth Fund

Steven Cohen is president of Excelsior Growth Fund (EGF), a prominent Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) providing small business financing and advisory services. Prior to joining EGF, Mr. Cohen was executive vice president and deputy commissioner at Empire State Development, where he led the Department of Small Business Services and Community Economic Development.  

Home-Based Business of the Year
Nicole Brianne Hylton, Founder
Nager by Nic Hyl

Nicole Brianne Hylton designs, manufactures, markets and sells women’s swimwear and small leather goods. Her brand, Nager By Nic Hyl, and her blog, Tie Sides and Scoops, are quickly rising in the fashion and swimwear world. Ms. Hylton started her career working with designers like Norma Kamali and Ralph Lauren. After working in New York’s fashion industry for over seven years, Ms. Hylton launched her own brand in 2014. 

Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year
Peter Negri
Jamaica Bearings Group

Established in 1925, Jamaica Bearings Company is the leading authorized stocking distributor of bearings, seals and related anti-friction, sealing solutions and power transmission products to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), Aerospace and Industrial Markets. The company has locations throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. 

Minority Business Champion 
Margo K. Cargill
Titanium Linx Consulting, Inc. 

Ms. Margo K. Cargill was born in Kingston, Jamaica (West Indies) and came to the U.S. at age 3, eventually becoming a naturalized citizen at 23. She's a graduate of Nassau Community College, Garden City NY and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor alumna of the International Business and Marketing program. She's worked in corporate America for over 20 years (from Start-up to Fortune 500) before launching her own venture, Titanium Linx Consulting, just over 2 years ago and leads it and the Uniondale Chamber of Commerce to broad-based successes in the Public-Private Partnership arena.  

Women in Business Champion 
Vanessa Best
Precision Receivable Services, LLC

Precision Receivable Services, LLC, dba Precision HealthCare Consultants, provides medical support services, compliance and revenue cycle management for the evolving Integrated Healthcare Ecosystem. Offering award-winning expertise in work process analysis, design/delivery of education/communication, Vanessa Best has grown the firm from a fledgling medical billing company twenty years ago to a multifaceted consulting firm working with solo practitioners, organizations and government agencies such as the Defense Health Agency. Clients looking to reengage and renew their team have found Vanessa's presentations, seminars, workshops and webinars "Simply The Best!”.

Veteran Business Champion
Lawrence K. Doll
Drexel Hamilton, LLC

Drexel Hamilton, LLC is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVOB) Broker-Dealer founded on the principle of offering meaningful employment opportunities to disabled veterans. As an SDVOB, owned and operated by veterans and disabled veterans, Drexel Hamilton identifies with the challenges of recently disabled veterans transitioning to a new career. Currently, Drexel Hamilton employs fort-two veterans, twenty-one of whom are Service Disabled. 

Women's Business Center of Excellence
Kenya Lloyd
Women's Enterprise Development Center, Inc. 

Kenya Lloyd, WEDC’s Program Manager, joined WEDC with a strong background in corporate management, client relations, project management and communications. Prior to joining WEDC, she was a client relations manager at Paramount Brands and a project manager at Caligor Medical Supply. In addition, Ms. Lloyd serves on the Board of Directors for the IMANI Cultural Academy. She has a BA in Communications and an MBA in Human Resource Management from Iona College.

Small Business Development Center for Excellence and Innovation
Dean L. Balsamini
CSI Small Business Development Center

Dean L. Balsamini directs the Small Business Development Center at the College of Staten Island, which assists small businesses on Staten Island and in South Brooklyn. Dean is an experienced business professional with over 35 years of managerial experience in domestic and worldwide markets with AT&T, where he held key positions in many areas of the business. After retiring, he later became the Chairman of SCORE on Staten Island for four years, which he left to join the SBDC in August of 2005. Dean holds an MBA degree in Marketing from Pace University’s Graduate School of Business, a BBA degree from the City University of New York and an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts from Brooklyn College. 

Small Business Person of the Year
Pamela Newman
ISS Action Security

Pamela Newman started ISS Action Security in 1991. From its headquarters in Queens, NY, the firm provides badge and ID services, armed and unarmed guards, emergency response plans, risk management, anti-pilfering programs and mobile patrols to private and public clients including NASA, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) the City of New York and New York State. Since 2013, ISS Action has increased its workforce from 101 to 255 employees and revenues have grown by more than 30 percent. Newman’s executive team is comprised of mainly women, which is rare in the “man’s” world of the security business.