SCORE and Brother International Corporation Award Heeluxe BizClips Video Contest Grand Prize

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- SCORE, mentors to America's small business, and Brother International Corporation announced Heeluxe as the Grand Prize Winner of BizClips: The Small Business Productivity Makeover Video Contest (www.bizclips.score.org). Based in Goleta, California, Heeluxe (www.heeluxe.com) provides shoe research, development, and laboratory testing for footwear companies. Their winning video, "A Revolutionary Approach to Footwear,"  (www.bizclips.score.org/entry/5940614) told their story and described their need for a three T's business makeover, including time with their local SCORE mentor, tools, and technology. The contest is part of a celebration of SCORE's 50^th anniversary helping small businesses succeed.

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Showcasing Heeluxe, a Small Business Success and Industry Leader in Shoe Innovation and Research
Heeluxe was honored at the 2014 SCORE Awards Gala in Washington, D.C., and received valuable prizes including a Brother™ productivity makeover featuring printers, scanners, and other office products; a professional promotional video; and significant national media exposure.

"What really drives me, and ultimately drives Heeluxe, is that I know we can make a big difference for a lot of people in the world by helping them have healthier feet," said Heeluxe Founder Dr. Geoffrey Allan Gray. "With help from SCORE, including the Santa Barbara Chapter, we've successfully grown our small business. We entered our video because we're ready to go to the next step. The office and technology prizes from Brother and the professional promotional video from SCORE come at the perfect time to help us grow and succeed."

Eighty-seven Small Businesses in Thirty-two States Entered the BizClips Contest
After entering their videos, contestants encouraged others to vote online during April. The top 25 vote-getters from the contest's nearly 10,000 votes became finalists. A panel of small business experts including Rieva Lesonsky of GrowBiz Media, Brian Moran of Brian Moran & Associates, Steve Strauss of USA TODAY, John Wandishin of Brother, and Ken Yancey of SCORE then independently evaluated the finalists' videos and chose Heeluxe as the Grand Prize Winner.

The other finalists each win a Brother P-touch® label maker. Congratulations to:

"This was an excellent opportunity for small businesses to showcase themselves in front of a national audience. We're delighted to help make Heeluxe's business better, stronger and more productive through the makeover," said Ken Yancey, SCORE CEO. "We're also grateful to Brother™, who generously supported the BizClips Contest."

"Brother is honored to be part of this celebration of SCORE's great work. We're excited to support Heeluxe, the other finalists and all the contestants who so enthusiastically participated in BizClips," said John Wandishin, Vice President of Marketing for Brother International Corporation. Brother International Corporation, established in 1954, is one of the premier providers of office technology products for the home office and small businesses.

Since 1964, SCORE "Mentors to America's Small Business" have helped more than 10 million aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners through mentoring and business workshops. More than 11,000 volunteer business mentors in more than 320 chapters serve their communities through entrepreneur education dedicated to the formation, growth and success of small businesses. For more information about starting or operating a small business, call 1-800-634-0245 for the SCORE chapter nearest you. Visit SCORE at www.score.org.

SCORE Contact:
Aliana Marino
800-634-0245
[email protected]

SOURCE SCORE