Hany Girgis

Hany Girgis, founder, president and CEO of SGIS, a technology company based in San Diego, is the winner of the 2008 Entrepreneurial Success Award from the SBA. Last year, he was the SBA’s Small Business Person of the Year.

Girgis started his company in 2002 out of his garage and has grown it to more than 850 employees in 14 offices throughout the country. He has plans to open additional offices in the coming years.

SGIS specializes in the areas of information technology, engineering, intelligence products, telecommunications and logistics and does the bulk of its business with the defense industry and other government agencies. One of its largest contracts is in support of the Army’s Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems, which has a $5 billion ceiling and runs through 2016. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in Charleston, S.C., awarded SGIS a $3.1 million contract to provide a messaging center for the FBI.

Earlier this year, SGIS opened an office in the San Francisco Bay area to tap into the information technology industry in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco, and launched new offices in Sierra Vista, Ariz.

Girgis has been the recipient of several awards for his business accomplishments and contributions to the community. In 2006, San Diego Metropolitan named him one of its 40 Under 40 winners. He also was a regional finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2006 in the high technology category. SGIS ranks No. 10 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s list of fastest growing businesses.