WASHINGTON – With its entry “Scooping Up International Sales,” Bassetts Ice Cream, a fifth-generation family business and a Philadelphia tradition since 1861, won first prize at the annual export video contest co-sponsored by the Small Business Administration and Visa, Inc. SBA Associate Administrator for the Office of International Trade Dario Gomez today made the announcement and presented the awards at the 2013 World Trade Day Conference in Denver. SBA Deputy Administrator Marie Johns was a keynote speaker at the event.
The four runners-up were: Second place: REKLUSE of Boise, ID with “Exporting Success; third place: Premier Choice Inc, DBA Perfect Bite of San Jose, Calif., with “Fruits of Our Labor”; fourth place: MMIC of Johnsbury, Vermont, with “MMIC What We Do”; and fifth place: CID Bio-Science of Camas, Wash., with “The World and Beyond”.
“The stories told by these five companies in their winning videos are powerful evidence that with their ingenuity, risk-taking and hard work, small businesses are big engines of the U.S. economy and exporting can be, and in their case is, a profitable, rewarding path to success,” said Johns. “We are pleased of our joint efforts with Visa, Inc., to encourage and reward the success of these exporting companies.”
The SBA-Visa co-sponsored Export Video Contest was started in 2011 to encourage small business exporters to share their success stories and best practices. Five short video entries are selected as winners based on the following criteria:
- Inspirational nature of the message for potential exporters and effectiveness in promoting exporting
- Creativity and uniqueness of video concept
- Value of lessons learned/communicated
- Use of U.S. Government program/service
- Innovative means of delivering the message
- Audio and visual quality of the video
The awards include monetary incentives provided by Visa, Inc., that range from $2,000 for fifth place to $10,000 for first place.
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