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Oregon Small Business Champion of the Year first two-time winner

SALEM, Ore., Nov. 19, 2009 – Oregon now has something a wide majority of states don’t: A Small Business Bill of Rights. No one is more responsible for that than Chuck Jones, and for this reason he has captured his second Solveras/NFIB Oregon Small Business Champion of the Year award, it was announced today.

The honor was conferred upon Jones by the Oregon Leadership Council of the National Federation of Independent Business and Solveras Payment Solutions, one of the nation’s leading payment processing companies for small business. Each year, NFIB and Solveras single out a small business owner in all 50 states for special recognition and honor him or her with the prestigious Small Business Champion of the Year award. This is the sixth year America’s leading small business association has recognized small business owners who go the extra mile for their fellow entrepreneurs.

Jones is a certified financial planner as an advisor affiliate with The H Group, Inc., an investment management and financial planning company. Jones is the owner of Portland-based Chuck Jones & Associates, Inc., www.chuckjonescfp.com, and CEO of www.abcInvesting.com. Jones and his firm specialize in small business consulting, financial planning, investment management and life and health insurance. He can be reached for comment at 503-291-1313.

“This is not a pass-around award,” said NFIB Regional State Public Policy Director Daniel Markels, “to win it twice, a recipient had to have done something extraordinary. To win it twice in a row, he or she would have had to do something stellar. Chuck Jones’ tireless and successful advocacy for a Small Business Bill of Rights is an accomplishment that is stratospheric.”

Because of Jones’ help in passing House Joint Resolution 43, Oregon’s Small Business Bill of Rights now requires policymakers to consider the potential impact to small businesses when making laws, rules, and regulations. It also recognizes in statute small business as the backbone of Oregon’s economy and distinguishes small business as an important part of our economy. Now, small business owners have access to:

  • clear, stable and predictable regulatory and record-keeping requirements
  • economic development tools, including critical infrastructure services
  • education and technical assistance in starting and operating a business
  • and an economic culture that encourages and sustains to growth of small business

In 2007, the Oregon Small Business Champion of the Year was Charlie Tragesser of Lake Oswego; in 2006, it went to Dave Easton of Forest Grove. Eric Blackledge of Corvallis won it in 2005 and Jon Egge of Clackamas in 2004. 

[Photo: 2009 Solveras/NFIB Oregon Small Business Champion of the Year Chuck Jones]