Sara J. Johnson of the NHDES Small Business Technical Assistance Program honored with Karen V. Brown Leadership Award

Concord - The National Steering Committee (NSC) of Small Business Environmental Assistance Programs (SBEAPs) and Small Business Ombudsmen (SBO) have recognized Sara J. Johnson of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services’ (NHDES) Small Business Technical Assistance Program (SBTAP) as the 2022 winner of the Karen V. Brown Leadership Award. This award acknowledges the long-term accomplishments of an individual who promotes small business compliance assistance, sustainability, advocacy, and collaboration nationwide. These individuals have demonstrated leadership, innovation, dedication to environmental protection, and persistence in building strong local/state/federal partnerships for small business compliance assistance throughout their career as a SBEAP/SBO. 

Sara Johnson was nominated for her years of active participation in the NSC, both as the Region 1 representative or alternate nearly every year since she joined the program in 2008, and as the NSC Vice-Chair, 2013 to 2014 and Chair 2014 to 2016. In addition, Sara has been an active participant in NSC subcommittees including the Promotional Subcommittee Chair 2016 to 2018 and Technical Subcommittee Chair 2012 to 2014. Sara has been a strong advocate for marketing the programs, encouraging regional SBEAP/SBO contributions to the U.S. EPA Asbestos and Small Business Office’s newsletter and the National SBEAP twitter feed by using them for her own program marketing as an example.  

“Sara Johnson’s dedication to providing small business assistance can be seen through her continual efforts to actively promote SBTAP services, network with small business providers and trade associations, taking every opportunity to meet one-on-one with owners and operators, and to update web pages and publications to be as up to date as possible with the current rules and best practices. She advocates tirelessly for consistency as well as flexibility to encourage small businesses to comply with environmental requirements while being good environmental stewards,” said Robert R. Scott, Commissioner.

The SBEAP/SBO NSC Awards are the States’ premier awards program for recognizing outstanding environmental leadership among small businesses and small business assistance providers. These awards recognize small businesses, SBEAP/SBO programs and individuals, trade associations and other business assistance providers who have made significant contributions to protecting the environment. The awards program is sponsored by the SBEAP/SBO NSC in partnership with U.S. EPA Asbestos and Small Business Office.

Additional Information:
SBEAP/SBO 
NHDES SBTAP Program