COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.–Ent Credit Union awarded $20,000 to CityROCK Climbing Gym, as the first-place winner in its We ♥ Small Business Giveaway. The funds were awarded as part of #GivingTuesdayNow.
“This is amazing! We are so grateful to Ent, our community and everyone who voted for us,” said Heather Robinson, CityROCK Climbing Gym General Manager, has. “Thank you for making this possible. Especially now as we continue to support our staff and put measures into place so we’re ready to welcome back our loyal community once we can reopen our doors.”
CityROCK is one of four independent, Front Range businesses to win a total of $50,000 during Ent Credit Union’s social media We ♥ Small Business Giveaway, April 9 through May 3, 2020.
Other winners included El Taco Rey, Sanko LLC Custom Woodworking, and SoCo Escape Room.
“We’ve been financially supporting more than 50 employees during the closure. This $20,000 can help our employees not just survive, but thrive,” she said on CityROCK’s finalist video on Ent’s Facebook page.
More than 11,000 nominations were received.
“This has really been a great platform to get well-deserved attention for so many amazing small businesses,” said Jennifer Sussman, Ent Credit Union chief marketing officer. “And I know I’m not the only one who can’t wait to get out there and try some of these great places.”
During the giveaway, Ent invited Coloradans to nominate their favorite independent, Front Range small business on Facebook. Businesses were also encouraged to self-nominate. And everyone was asked to share what makes the business so great.
Twenty semi-finalists were randomly selected from all nominations. A panel of Ent judges then selected four finalists for public vote. Prizes were awarded per online vote totals.
“While Ent has provided more than $1.4 million in increased business line of credit support and deferred loan payments on business loans totaling $89 million, we wanted to do more to help small businesses,” Sussman said. “They’re the backbone of our communities – and some of the hardest hit by this crisis.”