Mahoning Valley businessman honored at White House by President Trump

Mark Lamoncha, President & CEO of Humtown, has been named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 2026 National Small Business Person of the Year. Lamoncha, who was selected as Ohio’s Small Business Person of the Year earlier this spring, was crowned the national winner from a field of 53 state and territory honorees at the SBA’s National Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. He was subsequently recognized alongside fellow awardees at a Small Business Summit at the White House on May 4, 2026, where President Donald J. Trump welcomed Lamoncha to the stage and highlighted Humtown’s turnaround in conventional manufacturing as well as pioneering 3D sand printing.

“I would like to thank you for the opportunity and the privilege to represent the 36 million small business people, to be an ambassador for the largest part of our economy,” Lamoncha said in remarks at the White House. “And I would like to thank you from the Humtown Products Industrial Athletes team that I have the privilege of serving every day as their head coach.”

A third-generation family-owned company, Humtown has served the foundry industry for more than 60 years. What began in 1959 as a small pattern shop was nearing bankruptcy in 2008 when Lamoncha led a turnaround built on a patented productivity system that boosted output by more than 400 percent. Today, under his leadership, Humtown is North America’s leading producer of 3D printed sand cores and molds, supplying foundries across North America and around the world. Lamoncha credits the high-performance team members — whom he refers to as Humtown’s “Industrial Athletes” — as the engine behind that growth. “Manufacturing is my favorite sport,” he said.

The National Small Business Person of the Year award is the SBA’s highest honor for an individual small business owner, selected from 36 million small business owners, 53 representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Each year during National Small Business Week — observed this year May 3-9 — the SBA recognizes the achievements of outstanding small business owners and entrepreneurs, who together create two out of every three new jobs in the United States and generate roughly half of the nation’s GDP.

“Manufacturing used to be 38 percent of our economy, and it’s down to 9 percent,” Lamoncha said. “In the last three months, the PMI index has gone up three months in a row, and we have a 10 percent increase in hiring.”

The Purchasing Managers’ Index is a closely watched gauge of U.S. manufacturing activity, and three consecutive monthly gains point to building momentum across the sector.

Beyond his role at Humtown, Lamoncha is an active leader in Ohio’s manufacturing and education communities. He serves as a Board Member of the Ohio State Board of Education, as President of the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition, and as a Board Member of the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association and the Youngstown State University STEM Advisory Board.

This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 8:54 AM.