ATB - We Grow Alberta Contest - FAQ

What is the We Grow Alberta contest all about?

Alberta is the most entrepreneurial province in Canada — 99.9% of all businesses in Alberta are small or mid-sized.

We Grow Alberta is ATB Financial's celebration of entrepreneurs who help our province grow and thrive. ATB toured the province with a camera crew to capture the stories of 14 unique entrepreneurs — what makes these passionate entrepreneurs tick, what their business story is, and their everyday challenges and successes. The entrepreneur stories, including last year's contest winner can be viewed at atb.com/wegrowalberta.

Now it's your turn to share your business story with us! Enter for a chance to win a one of two prize packages valued at $50,000 or $15,000 for your business.

What are in the prize packages?

The prize package valued at $50,000 consists of:

• $10,000 delivered to you through an ATB Business account or ATB Business MasterCard in the name of your business
• 2 Exclusive mentorship sessions with ATB Business' executives to help you reach your business goals
• Your own We Grow Alberta video, articles and advertising package, valued at $40,000 (ATB will use the We Grow Alberta video and print ads on its website and in business publications ATB chooses to advertise in.)

The prize package valued at $15,000 consists of:

• $5,000 delivered to you through an ATB Business account or ATB Business MasterCard in the name of your business
• 2 Exclusive mentorship sessions with ATB Business' executives to help you reach your business goals
• Your own We Grow Alberta print ad and articles (ATB will use the We Grow Alberta print ads on its website and in business publications ATB chooses to advertise in.) The print ad and associated media buy/placement are valued at $10,000

What does the contest entail?

If are an owner of an Alberta business located north of the southern border of Red Deer County, including Red Deer and Edmonton, simply go to ctvedmonton.ca/ATB and tell us your story. Your completed entry will be considered for the prize package. No purchase is necessary.

If are an owner of an Alberta business located south of the southern border of Red Deer County, including Calgary, simply go to ctvcalgary.ca/ATB and tell us your story. Your completed entry will be considered for the prize package. No purchase is necessary.

What are the deadlines for entry?

The contest is open from 12:00am MDT on April 20, 2015, and ends at 11:59pm MDT on May 17, 2015.

When will winners be notified?

Prize winners will be notified the week of June 16, 2014. All entrants will receive updates/partner messages from CTV regarding contest details as contest milestones are reached. These milestones are: receipt of entry, contest closing, finalist selection and winner selection.

Who is eligible?

To be eligible you must be a legal resident of Alberta; eighteen years of age or older; and the owner of a small to mid-sized business with a corporate head office located in Alberta.

We define a small to mid-sized business as a business with less than $20 Million CAD in annual revenue and no less than 2 employees. You must also not anticipate a material change to your Business for the next eighteen (18) months with the business being in good standing financially and within the community. If you are a finalist, we may ask you to verify financial viability. Employees and their parents, siblings and children, and persons domiciled with an employee of any of the Contest Sponsors, their respective agents, parents, affiliated or related companies, subsidiaries, divisions, prize sponsors, and promotional and advertising agencies and administrators, are ineligible to enter.

Can I enter more than once?

No, each business owner may enter only once. Multiple entries will result in disqualification.

I know of a great business that would benefit from this contest. Can I enter them?

Unfortunately, because the business story is unique to the entrepreneur, only the business owner may enter their business into the contest.

How are winners selected?

Winners are selected through a 2 round judging process.

The round 1 judging is completed by a representative from CTV and a representative from ATB. These 2 representatives will review all entries for eligibility and strength of responses in order to select fifteen (15) finalists from ctvedmonton.ca/ATB and (15) finalists from ctvcalgary.ca/ATB. These finalists will be contacted for supplementary information to support business viability (most recent year-end accountant prepared financial statements) in order to proceed to round 2.

The round 2 judging is completed by a larger panel consisting of a representative from CTV, representatives from ATB, the ATB executive mentors and DDB Canada. The panel will judge entries based on the strength of their responses. The judges for both rounds will be different individuals.

How will you judge my entry?

We will judge your entry based on strength of overall submission and responses to questions, strength of growth vision submission, creativity, originality, validity of business tip and descriptive appeal of business.

What financial information do you require and why?

If you are a finalist, we will ask for your business year-end accountant prepared financial statements. This information is only used to verify the eligibility of the entry as businesses must be in good financial standing to qualify.

I just entered. Now what?

ATB & CTV will keep you posted on the contest, timelines and winners. We may also connect with you to highlight your entry through our social media channels.

Feel free to also share the contest within your personal and professional networks and on social media. Don't forget to tag us! @atbbusiness #wegrowalberta.

What if I have a question that isn't answered in these FAQs?

If there is a question you have that we haven't covered in these FAQs, please drop us a note at atbcontest@ctv.ca.