Honolulu, Hawaii—Dave Erdman, president and chief executive officer of PacRim Marketing Group, Inc., and PRTech, LLC, was honored as the Small Business Person of the Year for the state of Hawaii at the 27th Annual SBA (Small Business Administration) Small Business Awards & SmallBiz Editor’s Choice Awards, held on May 8 in Honolulu.  The National Small Business Person of the Year will be named in Washington D.C. during Small Business Week (May 12 – 16) and national events will showcase outstanding entrepreneurs who are expanding economic vitality through small businesses by creating jobs, driving innovation, and increasing U.S. global competitiveness.  
 
Central Pacific Bank AVP and Sr. Business Banking Officer, Melitajean (“Mel”) Racadio, nominated Erdman for being an advocate for Hawaii’s small businesses and travel and tourism and retail industries, as well as for his businesses’ success and for meeting SBA Awards criteria.  
        
“Being named Hawaii’s Small Business Person of the Year is an honor and validates 25 years of business success and working as an advocate for international tourism from Asia,” said Erdman.  “I look forward to continuing to help businesses and organizations increase their share of the traveler market from Asia.”
 
SBA’s Hawaii District Office has been honoring the best of Hawaii’s small businesses with the SBA Awards since 1976 and they have become one of the most competitive, comprehensive, and prestigious in the state of Hawaii.  Hawaii’s 2014 SBA Award Selection Committee of experienced business and community leaders, who have been vetted by SBA, based their selection on business size, increasing sales, innovations in products or services, response to adversity and contributions to community-oriented projects.  Honorees were selected after objective reviews and scoring of the written nominations.