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Jessup woman named SBA’s Md. Small Business Person of the Year
//April 18, 2023
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Tuesday selected Lois Gamerman, president and CEO of Jessup-based Soft Stuff Distributors, as Maryland’s Small Business Person of the Year for 2023.
More than 50 small business owners and entrepreneurs from across the United States, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, were selected as Small Business Person of the Year winners. Winners will be recognized at an event May 1 as part of National Small Business Week, April 30 to May 6. One of the state winners will be named the 2023 National Small Business Person of the Year at the award ceremony.
Led by the SBA for more than 60 years, NSBW recognizes the hard work, ingenuity and dedication of America’s small businesses and celebrates their contributions to the economy.
Founded more than 30 years ago by Lois and Bob Gamerman, Soft Stuff Distributors, a WBENC-certified business, is a specialty food distributor for the mid-Atlantic region serving restaurants, hotels, conference centers, universities, retailers and consumers throughout Maryland, Virginia, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Soft Stuff Distributors is known for its curated collection of specialty foods, soups, desserts, pastries, and baked goods and expanded collection of top quality prepackaged, natural foods and beverage items. The company projects $25 million in annualized revenue by the fourth quarter of 2023, an 82% growth since 2019.
The Gamermans plan to expand in the supply chain beyond food distribution by entering the cold storage and 3PL fulfillment business. The lack of capacity and absence of customer service in the cold storage industry creates a opportunity for which they are well positioned, they said. Mid-Atlantic Cold Storage is actively negotiating for a property that would add capacity for 8,200 pallets. Mid-Atlantic Cold Storage will be the only woman-owned cold storage facility in the nation and will address the growing demand for cold storage that is currently woefully underserved.
