Noemi Prado , owner of Southwest Moulding, Inc., in Sun Valley, was nominated for a small business award by the Valley Economic Development Center. The center is a strategic partner with the United Chambers of Commerce. Prado was honored by VEDC for buying the once-troubled moulding business last year, thus saving it from closing and laying off more than five dozen employees. Prado had worked for Southwest Mill and Lumber for more than a quarter of a century when she learned in 2006 that the owners of the business were going to retire and shut it down. Prado, who was the vice president of operations, wasn’t just concerned about losing her job. Fifteen of her family members were employees there as well. Since she was already running the business for the owners, she thought purchasing it would be a natural next step. “I just bought the assets,” she said. She also changed the name to Southwest Moulding, Inc. Although the company had been losing business to China, where manufacturing costs are often cheaper, it still had a strong customer base, which is why Prado decided it was worth saving, she said. The company specializes in house mouldings and also manufactures picture frame mouldings. After the purchase, Prado still had to downsize. She moved into a smaller building in the same city and now employs 48 workers out of the company’s original 65 employees.