VerticalResponse is Giving Away $10,000 to You!

We’ve been getting so many questions about our $10,000 competition called the ‘New Deal’ for Small Business that I decided to blog about your top six questions! Here's how to enter...good luck!
 
Why did you decide to do this contest?

At VerticalResponse we understand the power that small businesses have to boost our economy and quicken our recovery. The President often mentions that small businesses have helped to create 65% of all jobs in America over the past 15 years.
 
That’s why we created the 'New Deal' competition. The $10,000 we are giving away to deserving small businesses will help grow companies, and may inspire others to renew their commitments to this important group.
 
Whose job is it to help small businesses succeed through funding?

There’s no quick answer to this question. The easiest target for helping out small businesses is the government, because it has the critical mass, resources and regulatory power to make real change happen. The President is already making some progress towards helping small businesses with their loans. On February 2, 2010, President Obama introduced the Small Business Lending Fund, which “which will transfer $30 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to a new program that will support small business lending.” Will it work? We hope so.

At VerticalResponse, we believe that everyone should get involved in helping small businesses secure funding - from the President, to industry bodies including Chambers of Commerce or the Small Business Administration (SBA), to the nation’s largest banks. We also believe that when small businesses are successful, they should devote resources towards helping other small businesses or entrepreneurs. It pays to give back, which is what we're doing.

Why did you call the competition the ‘New Deal’?

The competition was inspired by recent media attention of the President’s plea for banks to increase their lending to small businesses and his focus on job creation, which is similar to the New Deal initiative Franklin D. Roosevelt launched in 1933. That’s why we called it the ‘New Deal’ for Small Business.
 
It’s so early in the competition, but could you share some of the noteworthy entries  you have received by video so far?

We have already had a lot of fun watching the submissions from small businesses, and look forward to receiving many more videos before the deadline of March 19. Two of the submissions that were produced by simple video cameras like a flip camera and a computer camera are Mark from BuildaFoamie.com who submitted this video, and Jason from Cincinnati Sports Art submitted who submitted this video.

So enter today, you don't have to be a VerticalResponse customer. Just tell us who you are, why you do what you do and what you'll do with the cash. And get your submission in by March 19, 2010 when voting begins. Good Luck!

Comments

[Allison Rodman]

I would like to pitch another angle on your $10,000 give away.

The Disabled have an unemployment rate of 79%
The Disabled are actually the largest minority in America, yet few companies have initiatives to create jobs within their companies that target the disabled.

According to a recent study the barriers for work among adults with disabilities is primarily no appropriate jobs available.
There are some new par
In the past few years some forward thinking agencies that support the disabled in the bay area are working with employers to access"real" jobs through a program called Project Search. See our website www.eastbayinnovations.org also the Cerebral Palsey Center www.cpcoak.org has been working with their consumers to create entrepenurial businesses. It is very exciting that individuals that are wheel cahir bound with poor fine motor skills can create a business and manage it on a daily basis. They deserve $10,000!
Thank you.