Two Lawrence businesses are among 16 in the state receiving special recognition from the Kansas Small Business Development Center.

Howard Pine’s Garden Center & Greenhouses, 1320 N. Third St., was one of eight firms selected as a 2008 Existing Business of the Year.

Local Burger, 714 Vt., was one of eight firms named Emerging Business of the Year.

The businesses were selected from nearly 900 businesses receiving KSBDC services last year. The business owners will be recognized during a March 10 ceremony in Topeka.

Consultants made the selections based on their evaluation of several criteria for existing and emerging businesses, KSBDC state director Wally Kearns said.

“Some of the areas they evaluate include major accomplishments while establishing and growing the business, obstacles they overcame, profitability and contributions they have made to the communities in which they do business,” Kearns said.

Pine’s Garden Center is owned by Gerald Pine, who took over the business in 1978 from his father, Howard Pine.

Hilary Brown started Local Burger in 2005. The restaurant offers healthy fast food choices, including fresh, organic, local food free of unnatural additives and preservatives. The menu includes bison, elk and grass-fed beef, among many others.