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Debbi Shapiro Named 2010 Small Business Person of the Year

As Awards Event Marks 24th Year ATLANTA – Debbi Shapiro, president of Henderson Shapiro, Inc., was named metro Atlanta’s 2010 Small Business Person of the Year today at the 24th annual Small Business Person of the Year Awards. The event, which for 24 years has honored one outstanding small businessperson for his/her contributions to Atlanta's civic and business community, is co-hosted by MAC and the Atlanta Business Chronicle. “Debbi had such a clear vision for the direction of her business, which makes her stand out," said Jeff Albert, principal of World Logo; chair of the selection committee for the 2010 Small Business Person of the Year; and a member of MAC’s Small Business Growth Council. “She is a shining example of how intention and focus will lead to success for small businesses.” Small businesses are a critical sector. Of the more than 143,000 businesses in metro Atlanta, nearly 95 percent employ fewer than 50 people. Metro Atlanta had the highest entrepreneurial activity rate among the 15 largest metropolitan areas of the country, and Atlanta was named best city for new grads due to affordable rent and opportunities for popular entry-level categories: sales, marketing and customer service. Henderson Shapiro was established in 1994 in an effort to provide marketing and related business services in a non-traditional agency setting. The company is located in Roswell, Ga., and has about 20 employees.

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(2010 Small Business Person of the Year, Page 2) Henderson Shapiro accomplishments include: being awarded the 1996 Coca-Cola Olympic City marketing roll-out initiative; being recognized in 2007 by Working Mother Magazine as one of the Top 50 Small Businesses for working moms; self-publishing The Common Thread, a book highlighting 35 years of the Peachtree Road Race T-shirt; as well as 18 awards for outstanding creative for clients, including Intelliverse, GreenGuard, Georgia-Pacific, Litchfield Research, Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, Hadassah, The Council on Alcohol and Drugs and others. Other finalists for the 2010 Small Business Person of the Year Award were:

• Susan Bixler, president and CEO, Bixler Consulting Group • Shelly Justice, CEO, Convention Models and Talent, Inc. • Chad Massaker, managing principal, Carceron • Shannon Russo, CEO, Kinetix, Inc.

To qualify, nominees were required to be a primary owner or a major shareholder of a business that has been locally established for at least three years with gross annual revenues not exceeding $40 million and with fewer than 100 employees. They were also required to be a member of the Chamber and an active member of the community. This year’s sponsors included AT&T, AirTran Airways, Bank of America, 920AM WGKA, and ExactTarget.

### Metro Atlanta Chamber -- The Metro Atlanta Chamber brings the best together to help Atlanta thrive. We mobilize and connect the business community to drive economic development and public policies that promote sustainable growth. Our board draws from Atlanta’s top business leaders. We have a professional staff of 90 and serve 4,000 member companies who employ nearly a million workers. In Economic Development, our project managers attract the best companies and the best jobs. In Public Policy, we tackle crisis issues and critical quality-of-life challenges such as transportation, water and education. For our members, we offer 150+ events and activities each year to help them connect and make business contacts. In sports, MAC’s Atlanta Sports Council has helped drive almost $2 billion in economic impact over the past 10 years by hosting major sporting events. In 2009, the Chamber celebrated 150 years of bringing Atlanta leaders together.