Vested Metals’ Viv Helwig Named Small Business Person of the Year
ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida (May 20, 2025)—The Small Business Association (SBA) North Florida District has recognized Vested Metals International President and Founder Viv Helwig as the Small Business Person of the Year. The SBA awards recognize outstanding small business owners from across the nation and are part of its National Small Business Week celebration, which takes place May 4th through May 10th. Helwig was honored at the 33rd Annual Small Business Week Celebration on May 9th at the University of North Florida.
“Receiving this award is a proud moment for Vested Metals International,” Helwig exclaims. “It underscores our commitment to quality, integrity, community engagement, and customer satisfaction. We are grateful for the support of our community and customers, and we will continue to strive for excellence in all that we do. We truly couldn’t achieve this humbling milestone without the collaboration of our employees, suppliers, contractors, community, partners of any kind, and ultimately the opportunity our customers give us. We are always striving to improve and excel.”
A graduate of Flagler College Class of 2008, Helwig chose to set down roots in St. Augustine, where he has built Vested Metals into one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the world, receiving numerous accolades from Inc.’s 5000 and being named one of Jacksonville Business Journal’s Fast 50 companies in the region for multiple years. Helwig was previously named Minority-Owned Small Business Person of the Year in 2020, and North Florida and Florida Small Business Exporter of the Year in 2022 by the SBA for the Northern region of Florida. Helwig is committed to creating and expanding economic opportunity in St. Johns County. The charitable arm of Vested Metals, The Vested Metals Community Foundation, works to raise funds for a variety of nonprofit organizations that are near and dear to Helwig, including United Way of St. Johns County, THE PLAYERS Championship Boys & Girls Club, and K9s For Warriors. Helwig and his team aim to raise and donate $1 million in 10 years through its annual golf tournament, The Southeast Coil Classic.
Helwig acknowledges there is uncertainty in the market at the moment, but he is ready to tackle it with thought and integrity. “We know many companies have a lot of questions around market uncertainties and tariffs in particular,” Helwig says. “Although we’ve been here before, it still takes navigating intentionally, and we feel that our experienced team is well-positioned to help our customers do just that. We have a strong inventory base and are positioned well to support our customers cost-effectively while we await more clarity on tariffs.”
ABOUT VESTED METALS INTERNATIONAL – Vested Metals was founded in 2014 by Viv Helwig, a Jamaican native who grew up in Palm Bay, Florida, and graduated from Flagler College. The fast-growing distribution company is headquartered in St. Augustine, Florida, with a sales and service center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Vested Metals sources hard-to-find alloys, grades, and sizes for niche applications and markets such as medical, defense, aerospace, industrial, and power generation. Photos to accompany this release may be found here. For more information, visit vestedmetals.net and follow along on social media @vestedmetalsinternational
