Tampa, Fla., Contractor Wins Honor from Small Business Administration.

Byline: Jerome R. Stockfisch

Sep. 17--TAMPA, Fla.--A local engineer who started a contracting company 10 years ago will be honored next week in Washington as one of 11 Regional Minority Small Business Persons of the Year.

Jose J. Sosa, founder and president of J.J. Sosa & Associates Inc. in Tampa, won the honor for the Small Business Administration's Region IV, which covers the Southeast.

Sosa, 45, is a native of Cuba who grew up in Puerto Rico and came to Tampa in 1990. He is a civil engineer who worked for a local firm before going out on his own in 1992.

J.J. Sosa & Associates does about $4 million a year in business, but that's expected …