Posted on: Thursday, May 9, 2002

Alan M.L. Yee given national SBA award

Advertiser Staff

Hawai'i's Alan M.L. Yee, managing partner of Grant Thornton, was honored in Washington yesterday as recipient of the Small Business Administration's National Accountant Advocate Award.

Yee, a certified public accountant and former small- business owner, works with business development agencies, consults with small businesses and has pushed for regulatory and tax reforms that could stimulate entrepreneurship and improve Hawai'i's economy, according to the Small Business Administration.

The advocacy award recognizes accountants who significantly improve the economic and financial climate for small business.

Yee's honor came the same week that Hawai'i businessman Thanh Quoc Lam, owner of the Ba-Le Sandwich & Bakery chain, was honored in Washington as the Small Business Administration's national small-business person of the year.

In the last 20 years, Hawai'i has had 10 national-level winners of SBA awards. Two were honored in the same year once before, in 2000.

Having two winners from Hawai'i again this year "shows the caliber of small- business people and advocates we have working in this environment, despite a sluggish economy," said Jane Sawyer, assistant district director for the Hawai'i district office. The awards came during the National Small Business Week celebration in Washington.