LISA PINEIRO INTRODUCES PRESIDENT OBAMA 

NCIMED Client Lisa Anne Pineiro, 2009 NC Small Business Person of the Year (right), introduces President Barack Obama (left) at the 2009 National SBA Awards Banquet in Washington, DC.

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The U.S. Small Business Administration has chosen Lisa Anne Pineiro, president of Durham-based Technical Services Inc., as the North Carolina Small Business Person of the Year for 2009.

TSI is a 78-employee recruiting firm that brought in more than $3 million in revenue in 2008.

Piñeiro is a former hairstylist who was searching for a good-paying job back in 1998 to support her daughter. Landing a position with a construction staffing firm, she soon reached the conclusion that she could provide a better quality of service herself.

She then launched TSI, which specializes in finding work electricians and other construction subcontractors.

With business slow after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Pineiro looked for alternatives to generate income. She opened two Edy's Ice Cream parlors to help keep TSI afloat. For two years she scooped desserts while raising her daughter and running TSI from an ice-cream shop storeroom.

When the economy picked up, she sold the parlors and began to build her business.

SBA Person of the Year winners from 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam will converge on Washington, D.C., in May for the unveiling of the National Small Business Person of the Year.

The criteria for the award include: staying power, business growth, response to adversity and community involvement.

TSI used a $75,000 SBA-guaranteed line of credit from Wachovia and help from the SBA Women's Business Center in Durham to get off the ground.

Source: Triangle Business Journal