SMBC advisor receives Star Performer award

MOSES LAKE — Allan Peterson is quiet in nature and big in action. His efforts as a certified business advisor with the Washington Small Business Development Network were recognized recently when he was named the network’s 2016 Star Performer for his work with small business owners in eastern Washington.

Peterson’s work in Moses Lake is supported by the Grant County Economic Development Council, but he is also available to meet with clients from Adams and Lincoln counties. His participation on a recent Grant County-business trade mission to Gunpo, South Korea proved invaluable in securing a number of different trade possibilities for central Washington businesses, including Fresh Nature Foods, Cascade Mills Flour, Trinidad Lavender, Whiskey Gap Distillery, Bartelson Transport, Bowman Orchards and reACT Trainer.

The trade mission was sponsored by the Grant County Economic Development Council and the Small Business Development Center.

“They don’t come any better than him. He doesn’t start what he won’t finish,” said Lateef Olaniyan, owner of Southgate Pharmacy in Moses Lake. “He routinely goes the extra mile to make sure his clients have the information or resources they need to move ahead.”

The Washington SBDC network includes more than two dozen SBDC advisors and two international trade specialists in communities across the state who work with small business owners who want to start, grow or transition businesses. The Washington SBDC is supported by Washington State University and the U.S. Small Business Administration and receives additional support from local institutions of higher education and economic development.

Duane Fladland, state director of the Washington SBDC, said, “Probably the key word here is commitment. He’s committed to his clients and to the small business community, as well as to the SBDC network and our mission.”

The SBDC business advisors assisted more than 2,655 clients in 2015. Those clients reported that SBDC advising helped them secure more than $42.5 million in financing and save or create more than 1,000 jobs.

Jonathan Smith, former head of the Grant County EDC and president of the Yakima County Development Association, said Peterson is always looking for ways to support and bolster the small business community in rural eastern Washington. In 2008, he said, Peterson was the driving force behind a conference for business owners in Grant County that included representatives of Google and Intuit.

Peterson joined the SBDC in 2004 and began advising small business owners who already knew him as a familiar face at Chamber of Commerce functions. The transition took some getting used to, but has been worth it.

“I didn’t realize how much fun it would be because we work with so many different people with different ideas,” Peterson said. “Over the years, I’ve found that there are a ton of brilliant people walking around our community.”

The award was announced at the U.S. Small Business Administration annual gala May 4 at the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field in Seattle. Peterson and the Star Performers from each of the other SBDC networks around the country will be honored at the America’s SBDC conference in Orlando, Fla., in September.