Senator Nicole Akins Boyd has been awarded the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) Guardian Award.

The award highlights her efforts to assist small businesses in surviving the financial devastation suffered due to lost revenue brought on by COVID-19, which has devastated commerce globally.

The Guardian Award is the highest honor NFIB bestows upon state legislators and is based on their outstanding voting record on small business issues and strong support for small businesses. Small businesses employ nearly half of Mississippi’s workforce.

Dawn Starns, state director of NFIB, the state’s largest organization of small businesses, noted that Senator Boyd went above and beyond her duties as a senator during this pandemic to assist small businesses and their employees. Senator Boyd assisted in notifying businesses about assistance options, organizing information sessions about grants and loans, helping small business employees with unemployment, and working with state agencies on behalf of small businesses.

“This award is incredibly meaningful to me in this difficult year where we’ve seen extraordinary circumstances and hardships challenge our Mississippi small businesses. Throughout it all, our small business community is fighting to survive, for the good of their families, employees, and communities,” said Senator Boyd.

Senator Boyd of Oxford is the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Universities and Colleges Committee and is serving her first year as a legislator.