NSBA Names Grafton "Cap" Willey Advocate of the Year

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Small Business Association (NSBA) has named Grafton H. "Cap" Willey IV of CBIZ Tofias in Providence, R.I. as the winner of the 2011 Lewis Shattuck Small Business Advocate of the Year. Announced during NSBA's Annual Advocate of the Year Award Luncheon on Wednesday, Sept. 14, Willey was recognized along with four other finalists for the award.

"Awarding this honor to Cap in the name of our shared mentor, Lewis Shattuck, means a great deal to me," said Larry Nannis, CPA, NSBA chair and shareholder at Katz, Nannis + Solomon, P.C. "In addition to being one of the best CPAs I know, Cap has been a tireless advocate for small businesses and has been a tremendous asset to the small-business community."

Willey is the managing director at CBIZ Tofias where he has handled a broad array of accounting functions for individuals and other small-businesses. He has held various leadership positions in myriad small-business associations and has twice been elected as a delegate and state chair to White House Conferences on Small Business. Willey was appointed to a three year term on the Small Business Advisory Council to the Federal Accounting Standards Board, and served on a number of state advisory committees to the Governor and General Assembly in Rhode Island. In 2010, Willey was instrumental in getting Rhode Island to change its personal income tax system to a more competitive, business-friendly system.

In addition to Willey, NSBA honored four other finalists during the luncheon: Eric Blackledge, president of Blackledge Furniture in Corvallis, Ore.; Dr. Alison Brown, president and CEO of NAVSYS Corporation in Colorado Springs, Colo., Dr. Ron Katznelson, president of Bi-Level Technologies in Encinitas, Calif., and Benny Lee, chairman and CEO of DuraComm Corporation in Kansas City, Mo.

"I am proud to recognize these five small-business owners, each of whom have a strong commitment to small-business advocacy and has had tremendous success in their efforts to improve the overall small-business community," stated NSBA President Todd McCracken. "I commend each of them."

The Lew Shattuck Advocate of the Year awards are given in conjunction with NSBA's annual lobbying event, the Washington Presentation, where small-business members from across the country come to Washington, D.C. to lobby their members of Congress.

Since 1937, NSBA has advocated on behalf of America's entrepreneurs. A staunchly nonpartisan organization, NSBA reaches more than 150,000 small businesses nationwide and is proud to be the nation's first small-business advocacy organization. For more information, please visit www.nsba.biz

SOURCE National Small Business Association