The owner of a family grain storage and trucking business has been recognised as a runner-up for Small Business Person of the Year by the US Small Business Administration (SBA), it has emerged.

Jay Johnson, who runs Johnson Grain in Waverly, Illinois, decided to shop grain directly to feedlot operators by partnering with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, bolstering both his own business and the businesses of local farmers, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Johnson Grain, created in 1975, has a workforce of 25 people for the rail loading and shipping enterprise.

In the autumn, it is set to open a 150 million-gallon ethanol plant near to the company's headquarters to further benefit farmers.

The SBA was founded in 1953 to aid Americans in starting, building and growing small businesses.

In 2006, it gave more than $12.3 billion (£6.17 billion) in loans to small firms.