LANSING
– The Michigan Celebrates Small Business Awards program opened for nominations this
week for the Michigan 50 Companies to Watch Awards, honoring second stage
companies that have posted minimum annual revenue of $750,000.
Each
year fifty companies are chosen from hundreds of applicants and this year the
program judges expect to be looking at more than 750 possible candidates. A new
VIP reception for nominees has been added to the program in November. This
reception is a by-invitation-only event for leaders of the nominated companies,
sponsors and nominators. Many companies have multiple nominations each year and
this year will reward individuals first to nominate companies with an
invitation to the VIP reception.
Self-nominations
are highly encouraged as well and the leader of one of the founding
organizations of MCSB makes the case for just that.
“Being
selected as one of the Michigan 50 Companies To Watch is not only an honor, it
can also be great for your business,� said Rob Fowler, President, Small
Business Association of Michigan. “Second stage companies are, almost by definition,
not well known – yet. Being recognized with this award gets you on the radar in
your community and with your customers. I have a one hyphenated word piece of
advice for growing businesses in Michigan; self-nominate.�
Nominations
opened September 8 and will remain open until November 2 at 5 p.m. Be first to
nominate your favorite company, go to http://www.michigancelebrates.biznow.
Eligibility
Criteria for Michigan 50 Companies to Watch
Be a privately held commercial enterprise (not
a nonprofit, not publicly traded, not a subsidiary or division of another
company) and has not received the award in the past
Be past the startup stage and facing issues of
growth, not survival
Employ 6-99 full-time equivalent (FTE) W2
employees which includes the
Have between $750,000 and $50M in annual
revenue OR working capital from investors or grants
Be headquartered in Michigan
Demonstrate the intent and capacity to grow
based on:
Employee or sales growth
Exhibit a sustainable competitive advantage
Other notable successes
MCSB
Award categories for business owners also includes the Small Business Person of
the Year, Young Entrepreneur, Women Owned Business, Veteran Owned Small
Business, Main Street USA Best Small Business, Small Business Innovation, and
Government Contractor. Nomination processes and award information for all the
MCSB Awards can be found at www.MichiganCelebrates.biz.
