U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) met with the winner of the Small Business Administration’s 2013 Washington state Small Business Person of the Year award recipient Jill Blankenship on June 20.

Blankenship traveled to Washington D.C. as part of the Small Business Administration’s celebration of National Small Business Week, now in its 50th year.

Cantwell, a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, met with Blankenship during an event in the committee’s chamber.

Blankenship is CEO of Frontline Call Center on Orcas Island. Started in 2005, Frontline has grown into a multimillion-dollar company with more than 60 employees in 12 states. Frontline is the third largest employer on Orcas Island. The SBA announced Blankenship’s selection for the Washington state award on April 23.

“I was a pleasure to meet with Jill today,” Cantwell said. “I want to congratulate Jill for being named the 2013 Washington state small business person of the year. Her company is a testament to the American entrepreneurial spirit and innovation economy. Frontline demonstrates exactly what makes small businesses so critical to the economic success of communities across our nation.”

Also as part of the National Small Business Week celebration, Cantwell joined 55 of her colleagues to cosponsor the bipartisan S.RES.177, honoring entrepreneurs and small businesspeople across America. S.RES.177 passed the U.S. Senate unanimously on June 19.