SALEM, Ore., Oct. 24, 2014—Salem businessman Jim Bernau was named Small Business Champion of the Year by the National Federation of Independent Business at its event in Turner, October 17.
It seems this is a vintage year for Bernau, founder of Willamette Valley Vineyards, as he was given Salem’s First Citizen Award just last February. Last week, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden presented Bernau with NFIB’s Small Business Champion 2014 award at a Legacy Awards evening put on by the Oregon chapter of America’s largest small-business association.
“Jim Bernau was NFIB/Oregon’s very first, full-time state director who established a small-business presence in the State Capitol,” said Jan Meekcoms, Oregon state director for the National Federation of Independent Business. “His advocacy work included pioneering Oregon’s fledgling wine industry into the major economic force it is today. He’s always been there for small business on a variety of issues and given generously of not only his time, effort and wisdom, but he also shares the stunning location and world class wines of Willamette Valley Vineyards.”
His commitment to small business went the extra mile that October 17 evening when he initiated two Young Entrepreneur Scholarship awards. In 2015 they will be awarded to two future entrepreneurs who are engaged in free enterprise by operating their own business while a senior in high school. For more information on NFIB’s Young Entrepreneur Foundation scholarship program, click here.
NFIB has 350,000 dues-paying members across the nation, including more than 7,200 in Oregon. Small business is no small matter for the economic future of the state, reports the Office of Advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration. “They represent 97.6 percent of all employers and employ 55.5 percent of the private-sector labor force. Small businesses are crucial to the fiscal condition of the state and numbered 344,722 in 2010 … Most of Oregon’s small businesses … have fewer than 20 employees.”
Brief, single-pages of bulleted information on the power of the small-business vote, what a small business is and the distinctions it has from a big business can be found here.
[Photo below courtesy of Luna Bug Photography]
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For more than 70 years, the National Federation of Independent Business has been the Voice of Small Business, taking the message from Main Street to the halls of Congress and all 50 state legislatures. NFIB annually surveys its members on state and federal issues vital to their survival as America’s economic engine and biggest creator of jobs. NFIB’s educational mission is to remind policymakers that small businesses are not smaller versions of bigger businesses; they have very different challenges and priorities.
National Federation of Independent Business/Oregon
3340 Commercial St. S.E. Suite 210
Salem, OR 97302
503-364-4450
