LCI Pressroom

Mike Lyles Awarded the SBA 2009 Oklahoma Minority Small Business Champion of the Year
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Mike Lyles, President and CEO of Leader Communications Incorporated (LCI), was awarded the Small Business Administration (SBA) 2009 Oklahoma Minority Small Business Champion of the Year Award on March 5, 2009. He went on to win the 2009 SBA Region VI Minority Small Business Champion Award, encompassing Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico.

“I am very grateful for this award and appreciate all my employees for helping me achieve this award,” Lyles said.

Lyles will pose for a picture with other SBA winners with Lt. Governor Jari Askins on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at the Oklahoma State Capitol. He will also attend an awards luncheon on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at Rose State College Student Center in Midwest City, Oklahoma.

According to the SBA, this award recognizes business leaders who increase business development opportunities for minority entrepreneurs as they work to develop and grow their American dream of small business ownership. More than 97 percent of the businesses in Oklahoma are small businesses. Minority Small Business Champion of the Year is an award that recognizes individuals who have fulfilled a commitment to support minority entrepreneurship. A nominee’s volunteer efforts, efforts to improve the minority small business community, advising small business groups, and their advocacy for minority small business interests are considered as the basis for the award.

Mr. Lyles has been actively promoting small business, especially minority small businesses, since 2004. In 2004, he started the Oklahoma Small Business Group (OKSBG), a consortium of Oklahoma based small businesses, to help small businesses with the different parts of Government contracting, and to help LCI develop teaming partner relationships with good, small Oklahoma businesses. He said he believes the OKSBG has been very rewarding and the successes have been beneficial for LCI and all members.

“I owe everything that I have and have become to my mentor and friend, Mr. Michael O. Lyles. He will always succeed in whatever he does, because that’s the kind of man that he is. He always sees down the road and I’m glad I was standing in it,” said Collette Webb, president of A Plus Communications Inc. (APCI), a member of the OKSBG and LCI’s SBA approved protégé.

About LCI:   Leader Communications, Incorporated (LCI) is an award-winning, ISO 9001:2000 Small Disadvantaged, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) certified Information Technology (IT) and Business/Financial Services firm, committed to providing the highest level of professional services and cost-effective solutions for today's challenging requirements.