Vaughn Vasconcellos, president and chief executive officer of Akimeka LLC, has been named this year's small business person of the year for Hawaii.

The U.S. Small Business Administration honors outstanding small-business owners, entrepreneurs and advocates who have made important economic and quality-of-life contributions. An awards luncheon will be held on April 24 at Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Vasconcellos succeeds last year's winner, Beverly Gannon, the award-winning chef and owner of Haliimaile General Store and Joe's Bar on Maui.

Akimeka, founded in 1997, is a fast-growing native Hawaiian company that provides specialized technology solutions mostly for government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense. The company graduated from SBA's 8(a) program a few years ago, and has expanded since then.