In recognition of National Small Business Week, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy came to North Branford on May 4 to visit with the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) 2018 Connecticut Small Business Person of the Year, April Lukasik.  Lukasik is president and CEO of Bright & Early Children's Learning Centers.

North Branford's Bright & Early Children's Learning Center at 274 Branford Road opened six years ago and is now the second of three -  soon to be four – centers established by Lukasik in Connecticut. Other centers are in Middletown and Old Saybrook. This summer, Lukasik will open a fourth center in West Hartford.

Lukasik told Zip06/The Sound she carefully selected North Branford as her second location for her growing business.

"We like to get into a community like North Branford," she said. "We looked at the demographic, and found North Branford didn't have any large centers that provided the education component with learning experience to this level."

Murphy said small businesses like the center are "...thinking about the needs of the local community first." He said the success of the center's North Branford location is great example of how the town can be a perfect destination for small businesses to grow.

"This place is booming," Murphy told Zip06/The Sound, after he toured the facility and met with kids in classrooms and on the outdoor playground. "They have no problem growing here in North Branford."

Lukasik got her start in the business in 1997 with an SBA loan and has received six additional SBA loans over the years to help operate her businesses. Lukasik will open her fourth center with assistance from an SBA loan, said SBA CT District Office Senior Area Manager Frank Alvarado.

Together with North Branford center director Kathy Pancione, Lukasik took Murphy, Alvarado and SBA CT District Office Deputy District Director Julio Caisano on a tour of the center, which serves 120 families with pre-school and pre-K children.

Speaking to press during his visit, Murphy said, "The SBA is making more loans than ever, and that's great news. I'm proud SBA continues to invest in Connecticut. I'm one of the few young parents in the United States Senate; so I know what good child care looks like. It's fantastic to have places like this building as models that work for kids and for parents."

Murphy continued, "When people think of the SBA, they might not necessarily think of investments in child care [and] early learning; and yet this is such a successful partnership and it's really changing lives for kids and families all around Connecticut; with now four sites being opened by this great business."

On May 4, Lukasik had only just returned from Washington, D.C., where she was honored with other U.S. Small Business Persons of the Year, one from every state, noted Caisano.

"This goes back to 1963. It has a foundation going back a number of presidents, all the way to Kennedy," said Caisano.

Many nominees are put forward for consideration by the banks which assist small business owners with SBA loans, said Alvarado. Lukasik was selected as CT's top award winner among 11 small businesses, and was also recognized at a special state event together with those business owners, held by the CT SBA district in April.

"We are extremely excited to honor a truly amazing line up of eleven small business owners and champions this year," said Anne Hunt, SBA's Connecticut District Director, in a press release. "It is important to recognize these outstanding small businesses in the state as they are the job creators, innovators and the fabric of our local communities!"

Pointing to Lukasik's success, Murphy said he hoped other small business owners in the area, or those hoping to start up a business, will reach out to learn more SBA's loan services.

"Connecticut has been a big customer of SBA. We have so many growing small businesses here, and SBA is making more loans than they have in the past," Murphy said, adding Bright & Early Children's Learning Centers are, "... an example of how easy it can be to work with SBA.  I think there's a reputation sometimes that SBA isn't worth the hassle. They would not have been able to grow without that SBA relationship. They started with one loan and then another and another. So once you begin that relationship with SBA, it can continue to grow."

For more information on U.S. SBA loans, visit www.sba.gov/ct