Supporting Small Businesses Engaged With Their Communities

At Calvert Foundation, small business lending and support is very much at the heart of our work. We recognize that both here in the U.S. and abroad, small businesses are key drivers of economic growth – they create jobs, bring income into their local economies, and engage and cultivate their communities.

Following this past Small Business Saturday, we launched our first ever Small Business Competition to extend our small business support. Small business were asked to submit their own profiles, and then galvanize support from their patrons and friends to vote for them online. The top three businesses with the most votes were then awarded cash prizes to further their work.

The competition was open to all small businesses that are financed by our small business borrowers in the U.S. We had nearly 40 applicants from across the U.S., ranging from Mississippi to California, across many industries, such as retail, technology, and community support services. Throughout the month of December we received an overwhelming amount of over 5,000 votes for these businesses, making this competition a very close call.

We are pleased to announce the official winners of the Small Business Competition:

1st place: Feral Mountain Co. 2nd place: Pearl Wine Company 3rd place: Golden Mountain Guides

A big congratulations to the winners from all of us at Calvert Foundation!

Thank you to everyone who participated, voted, and shared the competition. We hope that this ultimately helped raised awareness on the importance of small businesses everywhere and the vital roles that they play in our communities and economies.

Even though voting is complete and the competition is over, you can still support your local small businesses through your investments. Find out more.