IU named SBA Minority Owned Small Business of the Year

SBA Award Graphic SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2022 — Hot off of launching their brand new interpreter app, the IU App, Language Service Provider Interpreters Unlimited has just been named the Small Business Administration (SBA) San Diego Minority Owned Small Business of the Year.

“We are extremely proud of this award. As a minority owned company, supporting the minority communities and the companies who serve them through language, it makes this very special. It is what we do, it is who we are”, said IU Vice President Shamus Sayed. This is a true team award as IU President Sayed Ali and Vice President Shamus Sayed won along with the company, based on their contributions, achievements, and philanthropy individually and as a business.

The 2022 SBA awards celebrated the resiliency and tenacity of America’s entrepreneurs who are doing their part to power the nation’s economic comeback, recognizing small businesses that have prospered despite the obstacles they have faced during the pandemic. Some key areas that the SBA looked at for the award included entrepreneurship, business expansion and growth, company website traffic, recent accomplishments, strategies, and tactics to navigate COVID-19, and contributions they make to the community and charitable causes.

Sayed and Shamus have expanded IU into a nationwide presence through acquisitions, aggressive marketing tactics and strategies, along with a strong bid program. IU has offices in four states, is fueled by proprietary technology that they continue to expand and has a solid network of 10,000 independently contracted linguists. They completely reorganized, regrouped, and readjusted their business plan to ensure that they could overcome the challenges that the pandemic presented.

The father and son team are both dedicated to philanthropy, giving back to causes that they support financially and with their time. They are deeply involved and dedicated to advocating for minority communities through volunteer work and by offering pro-bono services to refugees.

Helping to end homelessness through People Assisting The Homeless (PATH), mentoring youth to succeed in future careers and entrepreneurship with Junior Achievement San Diego, donating to food banks, the Ronald McDonald House charities, and complimentary language services for those in need during the attacks on Ukraine are just a few of the other good causes they have been involved with. IU has also created a volunteer time off policy as a work benefit allowing and encouraging employees to request paid time off each year to volunteer for great causes and nonprofits of their choice.

The IU team and the SBA have a relationship that has come full circle. Sayed purchased IU in 2007 using an SBA loan and is involved in the SBA’s SCORE Program where he mentors aspiring entrepreneurs. IU has also secured other SBA loans to assist in growing the business, and now, in recent years, they have been recognized with SBA awards including the Growth Through Acquisition Award, Sayed winning Person of the Year, and Sayed, Shamus and IU now winning the Minority Owned Small Business of the Year.

For more information about Interpreters Unlimited, Inc., please email us below or call 800-726-9891.

About Interpreters Unlimited, Inc.

The IU Group of companies include: Interpreters Unlimited, Accessible Communication for the Deaf, Albors & Alnet, Arkansas Spanish Interpreters and Translators, and IU GlobeLink, LLC, and are headquartered in San Diego, California as a minority-owned company. IU Group is committed to providing equal opportunity in the work environment with its diverse team to aid in supplying linguistic and cultural interpretation services to clients. A combined 70 years in the industry has demonstrated a surplus of leadership and best practices, which has helped establish its respected role in the language services community. Its services include spoken translation, document translation and non-emergency medical transportation.