Last Update: Tuesday January 28, 2020

How are people selected to be on the show?

When making your recommendations...

Please consider the following factors.

• The spirit of the people Are they positive role models for each other and for our children? Ethics, integrity, and authenticity count.

• Memberships Are they involved with their local Chamber of Commerce, their trade association(s), and their local public television station?

• Diversity Do they cultivate diversity within their workforce? Is that part of their vision or mission statements? Are all people associated with the business encouraged to respect the race, religion, and culture of people?

• Social Capital Being generous in you hometown counts. Being a gracious giver is a role model for us all.

• Global strategy Seeing beyond one's own event horizon, envisioning the world, opens a business as a role model for everyone.

• Visually compelling Television is a visual medium. Learning to tell your story with words and images is a hallmark of a eader.

• Continuity Envisioning the business beyond one's lifetime is essential. Here the intangible assets are passed along to the next generation.

• Owners/founders It takes a special courage to start a business. We all need to see and feel that special spark at work.

• Mentors We all need to prepare the next generation. None of us are so smart that we do not need a little help. Mentoring and being mentored are very important.

Between 25-to-27 million small business owners in the USA...

Over the years people often ask us, "How do you select a business to be on the television show?"

We usually answer, "We don't. The community does."

We have profiled hundreds of business owners since our first season in September 1994. Now, we have dreams that others will begin to profile thousands more every year. Everyone has a dream, and we hope to actualize this dream. There is a new business model here for television that constantly looks for the best among us to explore their ideations and motivations!

You are always invited to recommend a good business.

We turn to the local station managers and all the local Chambers of Commerce in that broadcast area (usually between 30-to-70), and then the local business and trade associations, the Economic Development people, the Workforce Initiative folks, the local business press, the local SBA-SBDC-SCORE people, CPAs, and even the local university's business professors; and we ask, "Who is respected within their industry and loved by your community?"

There are at least 100 people recommended for every one person selected. Nobody has paid and nobody will ever pay to be on this show.

These listings of wonderful people with big hearts and successful businesses is slowly emerging on this site within every Designated Market Area of the USA and also within several countries throughout the world. Often the people selected have already received awards from their state, i.e. the SBA Small Business Person of the Year (SBPY)². Others have been recognized by the local Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary, Knights... and even the local public television station. We are working on an infrastructure that supports both your local public television station and small businesses everywhere.

What would happen if every member of a local station's Producers' Club were to do one-minute profiles³ as a viewer tune-in? We believe everybody in the area would be watching the show. What if 50% of those episodes were about local people in the community? What if by answering questions (that Hattie has asked owners throughout the years), each person wrote their own transcript and case study guide?

When the owner of that information is ready to post it here, all our viewers and visitors can vote, "Do a show on this business!"