Suwanee’s Winton Machine Wins $250,000 in National Small Business Competition

SUWANEE, Ga. — Winton Machine Company has returned from a national small-business competition with a second-place finish and $250,000 in prize money.

The Suwanee-based manufacturer was one of five finalists in the Small Business Administration’s national pitch competition, chosen from more than 1,100 applicants. The National Association of Manufacturers confirmed the result Oct. 22, after the competition was broadcast.

The result answers the central question in North Atlanta Star’s earlier report about the company’s trip to Washington and its shot at a major national award.

Winton Machine makes industrial automation equipment. The company is led by co-owners Lisa and George Winton, who described the business’s origins and plans for the future during the national competition. The company has grown from a small startup into a manufacturer with customers beyond Georgia.

The Gwinnett Chamber also confirmed the second-place finish and $250,000 prize, highlighting the result as a local manufacturing success.

What remains unknown is how Winton Machine will use the funding. The prize does not, by itself, confirm a factory expansion, new jobs or equipment purchases. Those would be separate developments if the company announces them.

For now, the confirmed news is substantial: a Suwanee business emerged from a national field of more than 1,100 applicants with a quarter-million-dollar award and renewed attention on the region’s manufacturing sector.

Sources: National Association of Manufacturers, Oct. 22; Gwinnett Chamber.