The SBA has inducted seven Colorado Springs businesses into its Wall of Fame

The Small Business Administration has inducted seven Colorado Springs businesses into its Wall of Fame.

The inductees were honored this month in a ceremony it shared with the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber also named Kevin Johnson, president and chief

The SBA's Wall of Fame celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Small Business Administration. The wall features Colorado business people that have received SBA assistance since 1953, the year then- president Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation creating the agency.

Over 26,000 Colorado businesses have received SBA funding since, totaling about $4 billion in direct or indirect business loans.

The Colorado Springs inductees are:

* Floyd G. Abeyta, president and chief executive officer of Sun Construction. Abeyta's pipeline and earthwork company is now the 36th largest minority company in Colorado, and the 443 largest Hispanic business in the nation.

* Alison Brown, president and chief executive officer of NAVSYS Corp. The company provides service for globally positioning and communications systems. Brown was named 2002 Businessman of the Year by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

* The Conway family, owners of Conway's Red Top family restaurant. Conway's is known for the massive meat mounds in its hamburgers, and its burger was once rated one of the five best hamburgers in America (by Wimpy). Founder Norb Conway coined the phrase "One's a Meal."

* Keith Hampton, proprietor of the Cheyenne Canon Inn, which in the 1920s was a high-class whorehouse and gambling parlor. Hampton purchased the inn in 1999 with the assistance of an SBA loan. Today it is a bed and breakfast inn, and part of its charm is its rich connection with the past.

* The Michopoulos family, owners of owners of Michelle Chocolatier's & Ice Cream, a downtown Colorado Springs landmark started in 1952. There are now two Michelle's in Colorado Springs, and another in Greenwood Village, and a fourth generation of Michopoulos' is ready to take the helm.

* Ilia Petkow, president of I P Automation. Petkow started his small company in 1988, working at a drafting table in his home. In 1998, with an SBA-guaranteed loan, Petkow's company constructing its new 31,200-square-foot facility in Colorado Springs.

* Joe Mena, president of Summit Container Corporation, a custom manufacturer of corrugated and foam products. Mena purchased his building in Monument with the assistance of an SBA loan, and in 1996 Mena was selected as Small Business Person of the Year.

The Small Business Development Center honored Patty Asher as Small Business Financial Advocate of the Year, and the Pikes Peak Department of Defense Partnership recognized Active Plumbing and Heating as Small Business Contractor of the Year.