5 Pet Businesses Win SCORE’s 2018 American Small Business Championship

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SCORE, which mentors America’s small businesses, announced the 102 state-level winners of the American Small Business Championship, and five of them are pet-related businesses. Now in its fifth year, the championship rewards the best small businesses in their local communities with an all-expenses-paid trip to a training and networking event, mentoring from business experts at SCORE, and public recognition throughout the year.

Winners competed with a pool of more than 1,100 applicants and were selected through a combination of online voting and judging by a panel of small business experts. The application asked each entrepreneur to describe the unique aspects of their small business that have contributed to their success, their positive impact on the community, and their plans to use the prizes to grow their business operations or revenue.

These winners will now compete for three grand prizes of $15,000 each, courtesy of Sam’s Club, which will be awarded at the SCORE Awards Gala on September 13 outside of Washington, D.C. SCORE’s panel of expert judges will select the three grand prize winners based on how well they utilize their prizes to achieve their goals and generate public awareness for their business and the American Small Business Championship.

“SCORE congratulates and celebrates these 102 American Small Business Champions, who represent some of the best small businesses in America,” SCORE CEO Ken Yancey said. “We are proud to reward these passionate and hardworking entrepreneurs with business mentoring, publicity and additional networking and training opportunities, and we look forward to watching them utilize these tools to further grow their business success.”

The 102 winners come from 48 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, and represent a diverse array of industries and services. The pet-related company winners include:

Ruffin’ It Doggie Daycare (Kentucky)

Professional Dog Mom LLC (Nevada)

K9 Salute (North Carolina)

Pearl Equestrian (Ohio)

Love Your Pet Bakery (Utah)

“Supporting entrepreneurs has been a part of who we are for nearly 35 years,” said Tracey D. Brown, senior vice president of Operations and chief experience officer at Sam’s Club. “Many of our members own a small business and we appreciate having the opportunity to help them as they find creative solutions to problems they face on a day to day basis. The 102 winners celebrated through the American Small Business Championship are excellent examples of how innovation, persistence and knowing your customers can help an entrepreneur overcome obstacles and we congratulate them on their accomplishments.”

Learn more about the American Small Business Championship and view the full list of the 102 inspiring winners here. https://championship.score.org/winners.