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March 3, 2010

Little Sprouts founder wins business award

By Cara Spilsbury

Susan Leger-Ferraro, founder and president of Little Sprouts early childhood education schools, is the Small Business Administration's 2010 Massachusetts Woman in Business Champion.

Haverhill is home to two of the 11 Little Sprouts schools in Massachusetts. One is on the campus of Northern Essex Community College and the other is off West Lowell Avenue.

Leger-Ferraro grew up in neighboring Methuen, and had opened her first child-care business, Susan's Playpen, by the time she was 17.

Little Sprouts is now a multi-million dollar business based in Andover. Leger-Ferraro is also the founder of ImajineThat, an indoor educational play space located in the RiverWalk in Lawrence, and the Leadership and Literacy Foundation.

The award recognizes the fulfillment of a commitment to the advancement of women's business ownership, said SBA district Director Robert Nelson.

"In looking over Susan's credentials, she should be getting an award not just for Women in Business Champion but rather 'Champion of Champions' because she helps and develops people and communities in many ways throughout the state in addition to her tremendous efforts on behalf of women entrepreneurs," Nelson said.

Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce President Joe Bevilacqua of Haverhill nominated Leger-Ferraro for the award.

"It is an honor to receive such an acknowledgement from the United States Small Business Administration for work that has improved the lives of so many," said Leger-Ferraro. "The 2010 Massachusetts Woman in Business Champion award will bring the light of awareness to all the human and civil rights initiatives we have championed for so many years."

Receiving the award gives Leger-Ferraro a voice on the national level, with the opportunity to influence President Barack Obama's agenda on small business development and early childhood education, Nelson said.

Little Sprouts Inc. is the only for-profit early education provider in the nation to receive the federal Department of Education's Early Reading First Preschools Centers of Excellence Award — a feat it has accomplished three times, according to a statement from Nelson's office. Little Sprouts schools are also accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children; a status obtained by less than 8 percent of early education schools.

Leger-Ferraro's Leadership and Literacy Foundation creates leadership and entrepreneur opportunities for at-risk teens. Created in 1998, it includes a GED and leadership program for at-risk teens that have dropped out of high school in the greater Merrimack Valley. The teens who are chosen for the programs must meet low income, residency, and employment barriers and want to better themselves in all aspects of life.

Leger-Ferraro also works with woman and minority business owners and designs business plans for them to ensure access to much-needed capital. She is also a business partner of Next Street Financial, which is a merchant bank that serves inner-city small businesses countrywide that show potential for growth and success. This partnership provides business owners with financial help and advice that enables them to achieve their goals.

Leger-Ferraro will be honored with nine other small business award winners in the spring during an awards luncheon.

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