FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 15, 2022
NSBA Names Niesha Wolfe a Finalist for Advocate of the Year Award
Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday, Sept. 14, Niesha Wolfe of The Gingham Café in Clarksville Tennessee was recognized as a finalist for the National Small Business Association’s 2022 Lewis Shattuck Small Business Advocate of the Year Award. The honor was given in conjunction with NSBA’s annual event, the Washington Presentation, and recognizes small-business owners who go above and beyond in advocating for policies to improve America’s small-business community.
“Niesha Wolfe has been an outspoken advocate for small businesses for years. Her work throughout the pandemic in particular is to be commended – her efforts to help keep restaurants and other businesses open in the face of unprecedented hardship helped countless small businesses across Tennessee open,” stated NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken. “Niesha’s vision and dedication to helping other small businesses thrive is an asset to us all.”
Niesha Wolfe runs The Gingham Café, a beloved local eatery and community gathering place, where she spent hours educating policymakers on what small businesses and restaurants truly needed during the pandemic. She founded the Clarksville Independent Restaurant Owner’s Association in 2018 and was the first woman to chair the Clarksville-Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. Niesha dedication has led to countless accolades, including the Clarksville’s Athena Award and the Clarksville-Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business Award.
“Niesha Wolfe is an outspoken advocate on small-business issues, cultivating important relationships with policymakers in Tennessee and Washington, D.C., and I am honored to give her this award,” stated NSBA Board Chair Mike Stanek of Hunt Imaging, LLC in Berea, Ohio. “Her tenacity and dedication has been instrumental in helping small businesses survive these past 3 years.”
In addition to honoring Wolfe, NSBA also recognized ML Mackey of Beacon Interactive Systems in Waltham, Massachusetts as the overall award winner and finalists: Maureen Bakewell Chamberlin, of Embassy Global, LLC in Hamburg, New York; Jill Castilla of Citizens Bank of Edmond in Edmond, Oklahoma; and Mark Ware of Mission Point Resort in Mackinac Island, Michigan. NSBA also awarded Kelly Willenberg of Greenville, South Carolina as its Rising Star.
Celebrating 85 years in operation, NSBA is a staunchly nonpartisan organization advocating on behalf of America’s entrepreneurs. NSBA's 65,000 members represent every state and every industry in the U.S., and we are proud to be the nation’s first small-business advocacy organization. Please visit www.nsba.biz or follow us at @NSBAAdvocate.
Contact | Molly Day | 202-552-2904 | mday@nsba.biz
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