Published April 2004

Last year’s Exec of Year receives 2004 SBA honor

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

Rocky Wens, president of ESP Inc. in Lynnwood and the Snohomish County Business Journal’s 2003 Executive of the Year, has won yet another award: the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2004 Small Business Person of the Year for Washington state.

Wens, born in The Hague, Netherlands, of Dutch/Indonesian parents, previously was chosen as the SBA’s 2002 Minority Small Business Person of the Year, then won again in the SBA’s regional Western states’ competition and traveled to Washington, D.C., for the national awards.

“Even Wens’ presentation package was innovative and impressively put together,” said Seattle District SBA spokesman Roger Hopkins, a package that included the Snohomish County Business Journal’s Executive of the Year cover story.

With this year’s SBA selection, Wens will join 49 other state winners in competition for national honors at the SBA’s convention in Orlando, Fla., on April 8.

“The presentation package, like the whole business effort here, was a team effort,” Wens said. “I realize there are hundreds of other small-business owners in this state that are deserving of this award. It’s great to be a part of that elite group, and winning the award is a humbling experience; it just blows my mind.”

Since Wens has an office in Orlando, close to the convention center, it will give him a chance to meet with the Florida staff that contributes so much to the company’s success, he said. Asked about bringing home the national award, he said, “My attitude has always been, why play if you don’t plan on winning.”

The SBA’s criteria for the Small Business Person of the Year award is being in business for at least five years and documenting success in staying power, growth in employees, increasing sales, innovation in products or services, positive response to adversity and involvement in community activities.

Announcement of the award by the SBA noted that Wens’ company — Engineering Support Personnel/ESP Inc. — is “a business enterprise of (more than 300) program management, engineering, technical and administrative service professionals with … specialized capabilities and experience in the operation and maintenance of the most sophisticated military simulators and trainers throughout the United States and in Japan.”

His clients include the U.S. Department of Defense, top-tier aerospace and industrial companies, and state and local government agencies, including maintaining flight simulators at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

“The men and women of the armed forces are our end customers,” Wens told the SBA. “If we don’t perform our operation and maintenance of these sophisticated simulators and trainers, our warriors do not get properly trained. We recognize that awesome responsibility and accept it with pride. As we perform our services, the primary motivating factor is that we can make a difference in saving American lives.”

Over the past 20 years, Wens’ company has grown from one employee to 325 people at 38 sites in 17 states and Japan, with sales exceeding $18 million.

One of the significant contributions to Wens’ success over those years, he said, has been help from the SBA’s loan program. Another significant contribution to his success has been a motto he and his staff live by: “Never make a promise you can’t keep.”

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