SBA names its minority small business person of the year

Patrick Hughes, owner and managing member of Hughes Group LLC of Lakewood, Wash., today received the Minority Small Business Person of the Year award from the Small Business Administration.

The Hughes Group provides information technology solutions as well as aircraft, administrative and training and integrated logistics support to the armed forces and business community, according to the SBA.

The veteran-owned company was established in 1999 by Hughes, a veteran of 28 years in the military. The Hughes Group is certified as both an 8(a) firm and a Historically Underutilized Business Zone company. It’s also classified as a small disadvantaged business and a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business.

The company's clients include the Army and Air Force, the Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security departments, and the Federal Aviation Administration. In the private sector, it works with Lockheed Martin and Honeywell.