Portsmouth Restaurateur Wins Major Award

Members of the Portsmouth area business community have been pretty familiar with many of the restaurants that Jay McSharry has opened over the past decade and know that he has had a positive impact downtown.

On Sunday, McSharry, owner of Jumpin' Jay's Fish Cafe, Moxy and Dos Amigos Burritos in Portsmouth, was named New Hampshire's Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

According to Amy Bassett, a spokesperson with the federal agency, McSharry will compete with the nation’s top small businesses for the honor of National Small Business Person of the Year during the SBA’s National Small Business Week celebration that will be held from June 17 to June 21. She said the winner will be selected from 53 state small business winners, which includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. The announcement will be made in Washington, D.C., on June 21.

According to Bassett, McSharry is a successful restaurateur widely recognized for his leadership role in the vibrant Portsmouth restaurant community. 

In 2000, with the help of a small SBA-backed loan through Fleet Bank, McSharry launched Jumpin' Jay’s Fish Café. Over the course of 13 years he has developed five distinct restaurant/hospitality businesses in the Portsmouth area. His style of doing business is community-based, engaging and collaborative. McSharry has dedicated himself to taking bold steps to build his restaurants and in turn help build a strong, vibrant downtown Portsmouth. 

“Mr. McSharry has certainly created a New Hampshire small business success story,” said SBA’s New Hampshire District Director Greta Johansson in a prepared statement. “During a challenging economic environment for the hospitality industry he has continued on a path of growth and expansion.  We at the SBA are honored to be able to recognize Mr. McSharry and other extraordinary entrepreneurs each year.” 

Bassett said McSharry will be recognized locally at the annual NH SBA Small Business Awards event on May 22 at the Crowne Plaza in Nashua.