Americans Unite to Help Small Businesses Break Through and Grow

In celebration of National Small Business Month this May, OpenSky, the social network for shopping, along with several partners, is launching The Small Business Breakthrough, a national movement to celebrate, recognize, and promote small businesses and entrepreneurs in the United States.

Starting tomorrow, OpenSky and its partners – Dotbox, Dwolla, Edison Nation, Goodsie, Kabbage, Mad Mimi, Martha Stewart ‘s American Made, Patch, ShopKeep POS,

and Xero — will launch a nation-wide call to action encouraging consumers to help their favorite small businesses break through the noise created by big box brands and grow.

They do this by visiting www.SBBreakthrough.com to nominate small businesses for a Breakthrough Award and then sharing their nominated business with friends via social media using the hashtag #SBBreakThru.

Joining the movement: Consumers can participate in the movement in three ways:

1. NOMINATE a business that deserves to break through and grow for a Breakthrough Award by visiting www.SBBreakThrough.com and completing the short submission form.
2. SHARE a business that deserves to break through and grow by telling friends and followers about it on social media using the hashtag #SBBreakThru
3. VOTE for a business that has already been nominated at www.SBBreakThrough.com to receive a Breakthrough Awardand encourage others to vote as well.

Breakthrough Awards winners will be selected by a panel of judges representing The Small Business Breakthrough partner organizations. Judges will select winners from among 25 businesses that receive the most votes on SBBreakthrough.com. Winners will be announced June 20, 2013.

Some of the prizes include a $5,000 grant from OpenSky to help further business growth in 2013, an e-commerce discovery audit and advisory session from Dotbox, a year of free POS system software from ShopKeep, and other prizes aimed at helping small business owners continue to grow their business.

“Consumers are moving away from the mass market retailers and brands,” said John Caplan, founder and CEO of OpenSky. “It’s time to celebrate the entrepreneurs that make this country great.”