2013 Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business Celebration Application Questions

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1 2013 Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business Celebration Application Questions 1. Contact and Company Information A. Company Name Company Name: Legal Name (if different than above): Street Address City: State: ZIP: County: Fax: Website: B. Highest Ranking Official (Owner, CEO, President, or Principal with primary decision-making authority.) If selected as an awardee, your company will be represented by this individual in publicity materials.) Courtesy Title: Title: First Name: M.I.: Last Name: Phone: C. Additional Contact Person (We may contact this person in addition to the highest ranking official regarding this application Courtesy Title: Title: First Name: M.I.: Last Name: Phone: 2. About Your Company A. Describe in a sentence or two what your company does - please use non-technical language: (If selected for an award, this description may be used in publicity materials serving a general audience.) B. What year was your company founded? C. What year did the highest ranking official listed above assume that role? D. What type of industry is your company in. E. Is your company a franchise? If yes, please explain in 150 words or less how you bring innovation to the organization.

2 F. Is your company 51% or more owned by another company? To be eligible for this award, an applicant must be privately held and not as a subsidiary or division of another company. If you answered "Yes". please answer the following 1. Please provide the name of your parent/holding company: 2. Is the CEO/President of your firm also the principal of the parent company? 3. Do you have executive management in place that makes decisions autonomously of the parent company? 4. Does revenue (other than the value of shares) stay within your organization? (e.g. for payroll, re-investment into operations, etc.) 5. Do you have operational infrastructure, such as human resources and IT, in place to serve your own needs? (Or are these services provided by the parent? 6. Is the parent company itself eligible to serve as the applicant of this award? 3. People Resources To be eligible for this award, full-time equivalent count must be no more than 150 employees in If employees were seasonal, did not work a full calendar year, or worked less than 20 hours per week, consider annualizing your FTE amounts. Use exact amounts if available (judges tend to trust exact figures more). A. Employees. Enter the number of bona-fide employees (e.g., whom you hire/fire directly and for whom you pay benefits or payroll taxes). Number of Employees by year Full-Time: Part-Time: Financial Information A. Enter your company's total annual gross revenue, including sales receipts or working capital from investors or grants $ 2008 $ 2009 $ 2010 $ 2011 $

3 B. Explain increases or decreases in revenue: (e.g., increase due to merger/acquisition; cost of raw materials increased drastically, reducing your margins; new product offerings late last year boosted earnings considerably). C. Is your company profitable (after-tax return on sales)?: If yes, for how many consecutive years (include the current year if applicable) 5. Competitive Edge A. Briefly describe innovations, intellectual property or proprietary technology developed by your company for which you have sought patent protection. (You may include those held by principals or employees and used for commercial purposes of the company.) B. Help us understand your market i. Name a few of your best-known clients (it is okay to include testimonials from your clients in this section, however, please identify who they are from.) ii. Which companies (local, national or global) are your competitors: C. Describe the competition in your market: 6. Company Strengths essay response of words Question: What COMPANY STRENGTHS does your company possess that make it unique in its market or community, or among your peers and why? In short, what traits make you a company worthy of the Chamber's Small Business of the Year? (Read the instructions below to give yourself the biggest advantage possible.) INSTRUCTIONS: From the Company Strengths listing below, select the traits that best exemplify your company's strengths (you must explain this in 200 to 300 words, so focus on just a few).the maximum word count for your response is 300 words (minimum of 200 words). If your response is longer, only the first 300 words (give or take a sentence) will be seen by the judging panel.your response is your best opportunity to convince the judging panel that your company should be a Small Business of the Year. Provide thorough, concrete, concise and convincing examples for each trait. (Tip: Consider comparing yourself to competitors or address how you stack up against standards in your industry. Feel free to describe traits that aren't on the list.) Wherever possible, use non-technical language or provide lay definitions for technical terms. If composing your statements in a word processor, copy, then paste them into the text box below. Select from the following company strength traits: Revenue/Finances: Demonstrated fast or high revenue growth Evidence of potential revenue growth Evidence of sustainable growth Financial growth

4 Leadership: Entrepreneurial leadership Management innovation Visionary Inspirational Influential Innovation: Development of technology Product innovation Use of technology to enhance a traditional industry Philanthropy/Awareness: Social/community responsibility Environmentally conscious practices Competition: Sustainable competitive advantage Entering new markets Competitive environment Customer service orientation Mergers/acquisitions Change in industry regulations Creative marketing Industry trends Human Resources: Demonstrated fast of high growth in hiring Evidence of potential for hiring Innovative employee relations Workforce advantages Practices that promote diversity 7. Essay Responses 1. List up to three PIVITOL MOMENTS in your company's history - and explain their significance. Provide details on what prompted the change(s) and how the course of your business changed as a result. (Examples: Discovery of a new process; finding a new market for an existing product/service; change in industry regulations, losing a major customer, leading to new opportunities.) 2. Aside from job creation or commercial services rendered, what innovative or valuable philanthropic contributions has your company made to the COMMUNITY? (Suggestion: Imagine how your community would answer this question. What impact have you had on your community? Consider your contributions in terms of philanthropy, in-kind services, improvements, need and solutions.) 3. Describe how TECHNOLOGY or INNOVATION plays a critical role in your business. 4. Give an example of what makes your COMPANY CULTURE unique - and how it benefits your

5 company. (Suggestion: Imagine how your employees or customers would answer this question. Compare your company to those led by your competitors. Consider your management practices, employee benefits, values, etc.) 5. Describe your most successful MARKETING campaign or strategy - and how it contributed to the growth of your business. (Suggestion: Consider what you hoped to achieve and why; describe the component parts of the campaign/strategy and results.) 8. Participation Agreement I have reviewed the application, and to the best of my knowledge, the information provided in this application is true and no significant information has been omitted. I acknowledge I am over 18 years of age and am authorized to act on behalf of the company. I understand that the information in this application will remain confidential, except for private review by a panel of judges to select recipients. I acknowledge that the Chamber may conduct due diligence to determine the company's eligibility for the award. If selected as an award recipient, I agree that the underwriters and Chamber may use the company name, contact information, and other information to promote the company and the awards program, including, but not limited to, the publication of a program or other publication profiling applicants, the Top 10, and the award recipient. Confidentiality and Proprietary Rights Disclosure In the event you are selected to receive an award, a profile of your company will be based on the information in your application. Please let us know the following: A. May we publish your full-time equivalent employee counts? B. May we publish your financial growth as year-to-year percentages? (If "No", this does not impact the judging process.) C. If your application contains information that should not be included in published materials, please provide specifics below, including the section that contains the information. Example: client names, as-yet unreleased services, specific details about proprietary technology, etc. This application is to be initialed by the company's highest ranking official. First Name: M.I.: Last Name: Title: By entering your initials below you indicate that you have read the "Participation Agreement," agree to the terms as stated, and acknowledge that you are electronically signing this application form. ENTER YOUR INITIALS HERE: