Completing this application is a wonderful exercise in reviewing the strengths of your business. The process may help you identify some marketable assets within your organization that you had not previously considered.

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Participation in this awards program is a positive experience not only for you as the business owner, but for your employees as well. Valuable marketing exposure through a variety of publications is granted to each candidate. The Chamber celebrates you and your contribution to our community! Use this checklist to ensure you have submitted all sections to the application.

Promotional requirements

• Please provide a black-and-white logo. It should be provided electronically in a 300 dpi TIF, JPG, EPS, or PDF format.


• If your completed application will be submitted before the February 2 early bird deadline, please provide a corporate description of no more than 50 words for inclusion in The Kansas City Star special supplement, to publish March 20, 2012. Every applicant’s logo, company name, address, phone number, Web address, and email address will be included in the supplement, but only those returning the application by February 2 will get their corporate description published in The Kansas City Star. The Chamber reserves the right to edit for length, punctuation and grammar.

• Please provide contact information, including contact name, company name, address, company phone number, email address, and Web address.

The above items may be submitted electronically, via email, to smallbusiness@kcchamber.com, or on disk or CD (included with the nine copies requested below), addressed to Small Business Celebration, 30 West Pershing Road, Suite 301, Kansas City, Missouri 64108.

Application submission requirements

Please provide NINE copies of the following for our judges:

• Completed official application form. Answers to open-ended questions may be provided within the application or as attachments.

• Submit a cover letter detailing the reasons for your success and expressing why you believe your company should be one of The Chamber’s Top 10 Small Businesses. Include in the cover letter why you believe that Kansas City is one of the best cities for entrepreneurs and how this has contributed to your company’s success.

SUBMIT YOUR COMPLETED APPLICATION BY FEBRUARY 2 TO RECEIVE YOUR 50-WORD COMPANY DESCRIPTION IN THE KANSAS CITY STAR. ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED IN THE CHAMBER OFFICES BY 5 P.M. FEBRUARY 16.

The cover letter, specific question responses and any additional written documentation you believe important to support your application should total no more than 15 single-sided pages. All of the materials may be organized and submitted in notebook form. No video or audio tapes, please. The materials cannot be returned. Applications will be judged by an independent group of community leaders, based upon the stated, specified criteria. Recent economic conditions should not deter any qualified applicant, they will be taken into account when judging employee and revenue growth.

Finalists for the Top 10 Small Businesses may be required to submit additional financial and legal background information for confidential review by an independent accounting firm. If selected as a Top 10 Small Business, the company president or CEO must be available for all Top 10 functions. Judges will conduct site visits to the Top 10 organizations.

The Chamber’s 2012 Small Business Celebration Judging Criteria

Applicants will be evaluated on their efforts and achievements in the following selection criteria:

Business Growth and/or Sustainability
• The company has exhibited revenue or employment growth or sustainability as appropriate to industry and
current economic conditions.

Employee Relations
• The company strives to provide competitive employment benefits, recruit and maintain a diverse workforce and
establish a culture that values the business and community.

Community Service
• The company encourages community service involvement at all levels, either independently or company
sponsored, including time to volunteer and serve and/or donations to charitable/nonprofit organizations.
selection process

Chamber employees will review each application for completeness and adherence to the judging criteria. Each complete and eligible application is forwarded to the judging panel to be evaluated by at least three judges. The judges rank the finalists and identify the top 20-25 applicants. Additional financial statements and legal background information will be requested of the top applicants to be reviewed by an independent accounting firm. All seven judges review the top applicants to select the Top 10 Small Businesses. After the Top 10 have been selected, the judges will visit each company for a one-hour site visit coordinated by Chamber staff and facilitated by the Top 10 business. The Small Business of the Year and “Mr. K” Award winner is then selected by the judging panel based upon their exceptional commitment to business growth, employee relations and community service.

Judging Panel

In any given year, the judging panel is composed of as many as seven individuals, selected by Chamber staff, in the
following categories:

• Former Small Business of the Year Award Winners
• Former Top 10 Small Businesses
• Nonprofit leaders who serve and assist the small business community

Judging panel members may not be employees, officers, consultants or contractors of any applying company. In the
event a conflict of interest is discovered, the nature of the conflict will be discussed with the panel to determine if a judge should be removed or denied voting privileges.