The 2020 FedEx Small Business Grant contest winner is… Modern Christmas Trees!
With over 4,100 small business applications submitted, Modern Christmas Trees is one of 12 winners that were recently announced by FedEx This annual competition awards 12 small business’s “who’s products reach niche and under-served markets, have business models that focus on sustainability or are just all around innovative products”.
Small business’s consisting of less then 99 employee’s, submitted applications answering several questions about their business and the motivation behind starting it, along with photo and video content. Once submitted, the public voted for the top 100 finalists. Thanks to the family of Modern Christmas Tree owners and social media supporters, Modern Christmas Trees made the top 100. From there, the 100 finalists were asked to produce a short video answering the question, “what are you passionate about as a business and how is that reflected in the business?”.
“This was an easy video for me to produce since my motivation has been clear from the start, although I’m still getting comfortable in front of the camera. My passion and motivation behind starting the business has always been the love for my Grandpa and my love for design.” Matt Bliss, Owner.
The Final
The final 12 winners were selected by a panel of judges and and announced on May 4th on the FedEx website Winners were awarded over a combined $200,000 in cash and prizes.
“Its an honor to be selected as a winner. My Grandpa created an innovative, sustainable artificial Christmas tree that is easy to put up, take down and stores flat. His trees make the holidays special and memorable for families all over the world. It feels great to get this validation!” .
After switching shipping companies to FexEx in 2018, Modern Christmas Trees ships trees throughout the world, representing dozens of counties on nearly every continent. “It was critical to have a shipping partner with a track record of getting packages to the customers on time. Families and business’s all over the world have chosen to display one of my Grandpa’s Modern Christmas Trees in an effort to make the holidays special and memorable. Its critical that the trees get there safely and on time” Matt, Owner