BROOKINGS –  Mark Luecke, managing director and CEO of Prairie AquaTech in Brookings, has been named Small Business Exporter of the Year by the Small Business Administration South Dakota District Office.

Prairie AquaTech produces  plant-based nutritional ingredients and help innovators bring their agriculture and aquaculture products to market.

Its products take advantage of patented fermentation technology that creates a high protein ingredient without the anti-nutritional factors common to other alternative protein sources.

The Prairie AquaTech manufacturing plant is a 45,000-square-foot commercial scale facility

Each year, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) celebrates National Small Business Week (NSBW) by recognizing the achievements of outstanding small business owners and entrepreneurs across the United States. 

This year, NSBW takes place May 1-7 across the nation and U.S. territories. The SBA South Dakota District Office is honoring all SBA SD 2022 Small Businesses of the Year and the SBA SD Small Business Person of the Year in a virtual ceremony May 3, 2 p.m. CDT.  The public is invited to join at http://ow.ly/iNhZ50IGqMa.

Other outstanding small business award recipients honored by S.D. SBA for 2022 include:

• Small Business Person of the Year - Karla Santi, chief executive officer/founder, Blend Interactive, Inc., Sioux Falls

• Family-Owned Small Business of the Year - The Novstrup Family, Wylie Thunder Road, Aberdeen

• Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year - Mulugeta and Marta Endayeau, Lalibela Restaurant, Sioux Falls 

• Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year - Thomas Catron, Dakota Solace Home Care, LLC dba Home Instead, Mitchell

• Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year - Tara Pirak, Valley Ag Supply, Inc., Gayville

• Young Entrepreneurs of the Year - Robert “Zane” Swan and Stephen Swan, HeSapa Enterprises LLC, Rapid City 

• Small Business Champion of the Year - Bill Zortman, Radio Host, “It’s Your Business”, KELO AM 1320, Sioux Falls.