UPS Honors Four Small Businesses for 'Out-of-the-Box' Thinking
Three U.S. Companies Join Filipino Firm in Winning Global Competition
ATLANTA, Nov. 13, 2007 - Providing a database of reliable caregivers. Reproducing specialty plants. Providing disaster-preparedness services. Helping subsistence farmers. These creative and innovative business concepts are at the core of four small businesses that UPS has named the winners of its third UPS Best "Out-of-the-Box" Small Business Contest.
UPS (NYSE:UPS), the world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, today announced the winners of the contest during the UPS Global Small Business Forum, a half-day conference in Atlanta dedicated to helping small businesses grow internationally.
The first-place award went to Sittercity.com of Chicago, founded by Genevieve Thiers. Second place was awarded to Knight Hollow Nursery, Inc., of Middleton, Wis., founded by Brent and Deborah McCown. Safe-T-Proof Disaster Preparedness Company, Inc., of southern California, founded by Michael Essrig, took third place. And a special Centennial prize - commemorating UPS's 100th year in business - was awarded to Binalot Fiesta Foods, Inc., based in the Philippines and founded by Rommel and Raffy Juan and Aileen Anastacio.
This year marked the first time UPS took its contest global with companies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore and China eligible to participate.
"UPS is committed to helping small businesses grow globally, in part because UPS itself started out as a small business 100 years ago," said Kurt Kuehn, UPS senior vice president, worldwide sales and marketing. "UPS understands that small business owners are pressed for time and need to focus on running and building their core business, so UPS makes shipping and supply chain management easy and fast for small businesses whether they're shipping around the corner or around the world."
This year's top winner says she recognized a need for reliable caregivers as she babysat for 30 families and worked her way through college. "I thought, why not create an online database where parents and caregivers can connect and find each other? The idea - and the business - took off," said Thiers, who founded Sittercity.com in 2001.
An online database of nannies, tutors, pet sitters, senior caregivers and house sitters in cities across the United States, Sittercity.com is a valuable resource that addresses many people's need to find a trusted caregiver. By creating online profiles, parents and sitters can search Sittercity.com for matches. For instance, parents can post job openings, obtain references from sitters and follow Sittercity's four-step screening process to ensure that they hire a quality caregiver. Sitters and parents also can request background checks, read and post reviews as well as use Sittercity.com's interactive rate calculator to determine fair pay.
The other three contest winners also have innovative business concepts:
- Knight Hollow Nursery, Inc. - When Dr. Brent McCown invented a way to clone and reproduce woody plants in a controlled environment, his wife, Dr. Deborah McCown, realized the huge potential of this new and innovative technology. Thus, Knight Hollow Nursery (KHN) was founded in 1981 and now is a custom wholesale grower of specialized plants. KHN was established to meet the demand for quickly and efficiently reproduced quality woody plants. The end results are unique, high-value plant specimens, including patented ornamental plants like trees and shrubs.
- Safe-T-Proof Disaster Preparedness, Inc. - What started out as a desire to protect his children in the event of a natural disaster turned into a very successful business for Michael Essrig, founder of Safe-T-Proof, a leading disaster-preparedness company in southern California. Essrig barely escaped serious injury when a bookcase fell in his path during a 1971 earthquake. His never forgot the incident and wanted to ensure the safety of his family in case of another earthquake or natural disaster. Thus with the help of some friends, Safe-T-Proof was founded in 1992 and Essrig and his team began preparing homes and businesses, schools and hospitals for disasters.
- Binalot Fiesta Foods, Inc. - When Rommel and Raffy Juan and their family friend, Aileen Anastacio, began a food delivery business in a residential condominium in Makati, the Philippines, they probably never envisioned the growth prospects they would experience. But by 2003, the business had become so popular that the company began franchising. Now, Binalot Fiesta Foods operates 31 branches and hopes to open its 100th store by 2010. The company strives to help improve the lives of Filipino subsistence farmers by helping them get more value from their products, including the banana leaves, in which Binalot wraps its food. The company also has programs to help the environment and promote traditional Philippine culture.
The UPS Best "Out-of-the-Box" Small Business Contest honors innovative companies with 2006 revenues of at least US$250,000 but not more than US$10 million. Eligible businesses in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, the Philippines and Singapore were asked to submit 500-word essays explaining why they're original and how they've been successful. The entries were judged on originality, business implementation and business results.
The first-place prize package contains: US$25,000 in cash from UPS and a US$2,000 cash prize from co-sponsor IBM. The second-place winner receives US$10,000 in cash from UPS and an IBM cash prize of US$2,000, while the third-place winner receives US$5,000 in cash from UPS and an IBM cash prize of US$2,000. In honor of its Centennial this year, UPS awarded a one-time-only special prize of US$10,000 to the small business best exemplifying the "end-to-end customer service" theme of UPS's Centennial.
UPS helps small businesses participate in global commerce by synchronizing package delivery, supply chain, and financial services. Additionally, UPS's broad portfolio of technology solutions can help small businesses go global, go online, or simply conduct their operations more efficiently. The UPS Store provides document and shipping services at convenient locations worldwide. Meanwhile, UPS Capital, the financial services arm of UPS, serves small businesses with a number of innovative products and services designed to help them accelerate their payments, gain access to crucial working capital, and minimize the risks of international trade.
UPS is the world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. UPS's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (UPS), and the company can be found on the Web at UPS.com. To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS.
For more information on the contest and winners, visit www.ups.com/outofthebox.
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