DATE: Monday, June 9, 1997                  TAG: 9706070735

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: SMALL BUSINESS 

                                            LENGTH:   28 lines

SMALL BUSINESSES, BIG VISIONS CHAMBER NAMES FINALISTS IN AREA'S SMALL BUSINESS COMPETITION.

What does it take to win one of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year awards?

Maybe the first thing is a good word-of-mouth reputation. The chamber gets its recommendations from area businesspeople. Tecnico Corp., which was named this year's winner in Chesapeake, was nominated by a banker.

This year, 149 companies made it through various forms of nomination. The chamber then reviews applications written by the companies themselves: details of a company's history, its community service work, safety record and so on.

Then the chamber follows a point system established by the U.S. Small Business Administration. That system looks at job creation, staying power, sales growth, financial performance, innovation and other factors.

After the points have been tabulated, the winners from each of the five cities compete with each other for the overall Small Business of the Year award which will be announced at a luncheon at noon Wednesday at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott. MEMO: Tickets for the luncheon are $20 for chamber members and $25 for

non-members. For more information, call 664-2576.

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