And The Winner Is?...................

With so much doom and gloom in the press these days, it's great to have a fun story to share. What could be more exciting than giving away a $100,000 business makeover package to a small business owner? That's exactly what I got to do this week in Washington DC at the NFIB 2008 Small Business Summit: Stronger Together.

Before a packed audience on Tuesday morning, Catherine Corley, VP Marketing Insights Sam's Club, Todd Stottlemyer, president and CEO NFIB and I walked onto the stage and into the spotlight to announce the winner of the $100,000 Business Makeover Contest our three organizations sponsored in April.

And the winner is…………(drum roll)

Wayne McIntyre, owner of McIntyre Plumbing in Tyler, Texas. McIntyre started his plumbing business in 1985, and it employs 18 people including his wife and two grown sons.

Wayne and his wife Ginger joined us on stage to be recognized and to accept a check from Sam's Club for $25,000 in cash. Of course we had to have one of those huge, blown up checks for the photo opportunity, but I assure you Wayne got the real thing. In addition to the money, Wayne will receive merchandise, supplies and equipment from Sam's Club, a year of mentoring from SBTV.com experts and a lifetime membership to the NFIB. (pictured below: Todd Stottlemyer, Susan Wilson Solovic, Wayne McIntrye, Ginger McIntrye and Catherine Corley)

And the winner is... Wayne and Ginger!!!

"We still can't believe we won the contest. This is a huge opportunity for my business and family. Times are tough in Tyler, Texas right now, and I intend to share what I learn with other businesses and community leaders," Wayne said. He also told us he's going to make sure every business in Tyler enters the contest next year.

SBTV.com is going to produce podcasts throughout the year featuring Wayne and his expert mentors. Our goal is to help other small businesses learn from some of the advice and resources the mentors share with Wayne. I truly enjoyed meeting Wayne and Ginger. They are wonderful people and it's going to be fun working with them during the coming months.

I mentioned earlier, the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt was packed for the announcement of our business makeover winner. While I wish I could say everyone showed up just for us, I'm afraid the truth is we were only the warm-up act for the presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee, Senator John McCain. McCain was introduced by eBay's CEO, Meg Whitman. eBay joined NFIB in hosting this year's summit.

Watch for coverage about the summit coming soon on NFIB's dedicated landing page on SBTV.com.

Published Jun 11 2008, 01:01 PM by Susan Wilson Solovic

Filed under: NFIB, mentoring, small business advice, Win, SBTV.com, Susan Wilson Solovic, John McCain, podcasts, Wayne McIntrye, McIntrye Plumbing, Todd Sottlemyer, Small Business Summit, Sam's Club, Republican, membership, business makeover

Attachment: NFIB check presentation.JPG

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About Susan Wilson Solovic

Susan Wilson Solovic’s career in broadcast and print journalism, with a focus on small business, spans 25 years. She is an Emmy award winning corporate television producer, a former news reporter for NBC and CBS affiliates, a former featured columnist for UPI on businesswomen issues and a best-selling author of The Girls’ Guide to Building a Million-Dollar Business (published October, 2007), The Girls’ Guide to Power and Success, Reinvent Your Career: Attain the Success You Deserve and Desire; and Hanging onto the American Dream. She has been an adjunct professor of Women’s Entrepreneurial Studies at St. Louis Community College. In 2000, the Small Business Administration recognized her as a leading small business journalist. In addition to her CEO and anchor duties at SBTV.com, Susan is a frequent columnist for publications such as Enterprising Women, a frequent on-camera small business expert for Bloomberg, CNN, CNN/fn, Early Today Show on NBC, World News this Morning on ABC and is frequently quoted in Cosmopolitan magazine on career advice for young women. Susan can often be seen as a keynote speaker, emcee, panelist or moderator at many conferences such as:

National Association of Women Business Owners
Women Business Enterprise National Council
New York Times Small Business Summit
Business Marketing Association
Women Impacting Public Policy
National Women’s Business Council

Prior to leading SBTV.com, Susan created a series of satellite television programs focused on women entrepreneurs in the United States and Canada. Susan is an attorney licensed to practice in the state of Missouri and previously served as the Vice President of Corporate Marketing for ITT Commercial Finance, an international asset-based lending institution which had $28 billion in finance volume. Susan has served on numerous boards including the National Business Women’s Council, the Women Presidents’ Organization National Advisory Board of Directors and the inaugural board of directors of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP). She is a member of the Board of Directors of the John F. Cook School of Business, Entrepreneurial Studies program at Saint Louis University. She served as a member of the John F. Kennedy School of Government Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard University until 2004. Susan holds a B.A. in history and political science from Columbia College and a JD from Saint Louis University.

Susan is a frequent guest on numerous mass media venues.