SBA Small Business Person of the Year Award 2011: MYB Official Press Release

CHARLOTTE – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has named Karen Caruso, CEO of Mind Your Business, Inc. (MYB) the North Carolina Small Business Person of the Year for 2011. She was nominated by Annice Brown and Clark Fields of the North Carolina Small Business & Technology Development Center, Western Regional Center. MYB conducts pre-employment screening, applicant background checks and drug & alcohol testing services to individuals, corporate and government clients Nationally and Internationally. Small Business Person of the Year winners from 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam will converge on Washington, D.C. May 18-20, 2011 to mark the annual celebration of National Small Business Week. One of them will be selected as National Small Business Person of the Year. The theme of Small Business Week 2011 is “Empowering Entrepreneurs.” The criteria for the award include: Longevity – a substantiated history as an established business, growth in number of employees, innovativeness of product/service offered, response to adversity and contributions to community-oriented projects. Karen Caruso’s inspiration to start her business occurred in 1995 while she and her 10 month old daughter Shelby were watching an Oprah Winfrey show on abusive child care providers. Immediately seeing the need and recognizing the importance, Karen developed applicant screening services centered around but not limited to the childcare industry. Her experience in security proved to be pivotal and the essential factor in what would become the foundation of a safer and more secure environment for children and the child care industry. In 1996 with $2500.00, a vision, two employees and a personal computer, Mind Your Business, Inc. (MYB) was launched in the basement of her New Jersey home. With the assistance of SBA sponsored counseling, training through SCORE, the North Carolina Small Business Technology and Development Center, and the SBA Women’s Business Center, MYB and the number of clients it supports has grown substantially. MYB now employs 14 people, serves over 1500 businesses and since 2004, operates in a 3,000 square foot facility in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Despite the economy and it’s relation to the employment sector, MYB posted record profits in 2009 and 2010 due largely in part to it’s hands on management team and unyielding commitment to customer service. Recently, MYB expanded its services to include Drug and Alcohol testing, FMCSA Fleet Incident Reporting Management and NRMA The National Retail Mutual Association Theft Database.
In addition to these services, MYB in collaboration with Western Carolina University created proprietary software programs to service its clients with Visitor Management Screening tools. In December 2010, MYB was approved for a $25,000 SBA Express loan through First Citizens Bank to market the newly developed services. For more information contact Karen Caruso, at Mind Your Business, Inc., 500 Beverly Hanks Center, Hendersonville, NC 828-698-9905 or e-mail kcaruso@mybinc.com.]]>