Entrepreneur and Canon's Project Grow Challenge Gives Small Businesses a Big Boost to Help Their Bottom Lines

IRVINE, Calif., July 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Entrepreneur magazine has partnered with Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, on the Project Grow Challenge—a rare opportunity for small business owners to win $25,000 to implement a growth plan for a strategic area of their companies. From now until September 15, small business owners are invited to submit a short essay that explains how winning the grand prize would take their businesses to the next level in terms of increasing consumer awareness and productivity while controlling costs.

"As supporters of the small business community, we are thrilled to reward three hard-working entrepreneurs who have distinct plans for their companies to achieve productivity and efficiency goals," says Ray Hennessey, editorial director of Entrepreneur.com. "Whether it is purchasing new technology for better sales metrics analysis or overhauling a payroll system to improve efficiency, the proposed projects should grow business in a tangible way."

A panel of judges will review entries and choose 10 finalists by October 2. The selected finalists will try and win the judges over with their creativity, by describing their businesses and demonstrating their plans for growth in an original short video. From these videos, one grand prize winner will be selected, as well as a first runner-up, who will win $15,000 and a second runner-up, who will win $10,000.

"We are very happy to be working with Entrepreneur to further support the small business community," said Yuichi Ishizuka, president and COO, Canon U.S.A., Inc. "Our hope is that the Project Grow Challenge will motivate small business owners to take their ventures to the next level by fueling growth in creative ways."

The Project Grow Challenge winners will be recognized on December 15 at Entrepreneur's Growth Conference in Long Beach, California. To read the official rules and learn more about the Project Grow Challenge, please visit: entrepreneur.com/projectgrowchallenge.

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About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions to the United States and to Latin America and the Caribbean (excluding Mexico) markets. With approximately $31 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc., ranks third overall in U.S. patents granted in 2014† and is one of Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies in 2015. In 2014, Canon U.S.A. has received the PCMag.com Readers' Choice Award for Service and Reliability in the digital camera and printer categories for the 11^th consecutive year. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. In 2014, the Canon Americas Headquarters secured LEED^® Gold certification, a recognition for the design, construction, operations and maintenance of high-performance green buildings. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting  www.usa.canon.com/rss and follow us on Twitter @CanonUSA. For media inquiries, please contact pr@cusa.canon.com.

SOURCE Entrepreneur magazine