Street vendor in Kunming, China, selling jujubes. Photo by Virginia Hines of San Francisco (also works for Yahoo! Small Business Advisor), who commented on the image: "She may not be Steve Jobs, but this lady knows the keys to a winning brand, including  innovation, confidence, creative problem solving, differentiation from the competition, and a product that raises the bar."

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Person of Year award

Oscar Quiles, president of Pentaq Manufacturing Corp. in Puerto Rico, has been named National Minority Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

Quiles, pictured above (center), received the award from Joseph Jordan and Marie Johns, both of the SBA, at a Sept. 30 ceremony.

Quiles' company manufactures tents and uniforms for the Department of Defense and the Coast Guard, among other clients.

"We are honoring Oscar for his commitment to excellence in government contracting, for creating jobs and providing work incentives for his employees," said SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills in an Oct. 3 press release. "Oscar's story is a true testimony of all that small businesses do for our nation and its economy."

Quiles learned about occupational uniform manufacturing during a decade of work for his family's business, Caribbean Needlepoint Inc. In 2003 he bought a company that was about to close, keeping all 50 employees on the payroll with help from the