Former Refugee is Small Business Person of the Year

SAN FRANCISCO, May. 08 /PRNewswire/ --

Andrew Ly, Others to be Recognized During Small Business Week

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Andrew Ly, who arrived in San Francisco in 1979 with one dollar in his pocket after fleeing Vietnam, will be honored May 12 as the "Small Business Person of the Year" by the SBA's San Francisco district office. Ly and others will be recognized at the 6 p.m. kickoff of Small Business Week at a gala city hall event with Mayor Gavin Newsom and SBA's district director, Mark Quinn. In an annual spring tradition, small business owners and leaders of small business support organizations are recognized for their economic contributions and vitality to local communities and the nation.

Andrew Ly and his four brothers purchased Sugar Bowl Bakery, a small San Francisco neighborhood firm, for $40,000 in 1984. Today, Sugar Bowl Bakery - with 350 employees -- is the largest manufacturer of bakery goods in the city with sales exceeding $42 million last year. The road to success wasn't easy. Ly tried three times to escape from Vietnam before landing in a refugee camp in Malaysia. The whole family was finally reunited in San Francisco in 1982. Their goal was to work wherever they could in order to save enough money to buy a business. The firm they purchased now includes two retail food outlets and a retail product line. Major buyers of Sugar Bowl Bakery products include COSTCO, Trader Joe's, Safeway, Target, Sam's Club and Walgreens. The company is also the major supplier of bakery goods to most of the Bay Area's hotels and hospitals.

Others who will be recognized Monday evening include Rick Karp, the owner of Cole Hardware in San Francisco. He will receive SBA's Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year. Rick's father, Dave Karp, purchased Cole Hardware in 1959. Rick was named president of the company in 1981. Both of his children have worked in the business. SBA's Financial Business Champion is Emily Gasner, program director of TMC Development Working Solutions. Gasner has helped to provide financial and technical assistance to underserved micro and small businesses. SBA's Minority Business Champion will be presented to Legal Services for Entrepreneurs (LSE), an economic justice project of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. LSE provides free legal assistance to low-income individuals who want to start or develop a business.

During Small Business Week in San Francisco, a number of events and business training classes will be available to the public. Information is available at >.