Alan Doan and Sarah Galbraith, the siblings behind the Missouri Star Quilt Company, have officially been invited to the White House.

That’s because Galbraith and Doan are among the top finalists for the National Small Business Person of the Year Award, which is presented every spring. Only five other finalists for the award will be asked to attend a May 8 ceremony at the White House.

The Missouri Star Quilt Co. is based in Hamilton, Mo., where it operates a popular brick-and-mortar shop and employs several people, but it also has built a large and loyal following through its e-commerce site. Galbraith and Doan started the business to help their family.

“Our dad, Ron Doan, commuted an hour and a half to work each way as a mechanic at the Kansas City Star newspaper,” Galbraith wrote on Missouri Star’s website. “He worked long hours and many night shifts to support Mom (Jenny) and us seven children.

“In 2008, when (Dad) lost a hefty portion of his retirement savings in the market crash and at a time when the newspaper industry, a sinking ship, was laying off people every month, my brother Alan and I had the idea to start a business that could help our parents towards retirement.”

The winners of several other awards have been selected for the White House event, including a couple with Kansas City ties.

The St. Louis-based Justine Petersen organization, which supplies microloans to the KC market, has won the Jody C. Raskind Microlender of the Year Award.

And the Veterans Business Resource Center, another St. Louis-based organization offering services to small businesses in Kansas City, was named the Veterans Business Outreach Center of the Year.

The White House ceremony will come at the end of National Small Business Week, a national celebration of entrepreneurs by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“National Small Business Week is a chance to honor our nation’s 28 million small businesses and renew our commitment to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit that is central to the American experience,” SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet said in a news release. “This year’s winners are dynamic trailblazers in their respective small business fields, contributing to their local economies and providing good jobs in their communities. It is an honor to celebrate their hard work and success.”