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When Dr. Brent McCown invented a way to clone and reproduce woody plants in a controlled environment, his wife, Dr. Deborah McCown, realized the huge potential of this new and innovative technology. Thus, Knight Hollow Nursery (KHN), Inc. was founded in 1981 and is now a custom wholesale grower of woody ornamentals and other specialized plants. And it’s also one of the world’s most innovative companies. UPS (NYSE:UPS), the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, today announced that KHN took second place in the company’s third UPS Best “Out-of-the-Box” Small Business Contest, a global competition. An international panel of small business experts reviewed more than 1,000 contest entries from across the globe and awarded the McCowns with the second-place prize: US$10,000 in cash from UPS and a cash prize of US$2,000 from contest co-sponsor IBM. Owner and President, Deborah McCown and her daughter and Senior Technician, Elizabeth McCown Dunham, will accept their prize during the UPS Global Small Business Forum in Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 13. “UPS is committed to helping small businesses grow globally – in part because UPS itself started out as a small business 100 years ago,” said Kurt Kuehn, UPS senior vice president, worldwide sales and marketing. “UPS understands that small business owners are pressed for time and need to focus on running and building their core businesses, so UPS makes shipping and supply chain management easy and fast for small businesses like Knight Hollow Nursery – whether they’re shipping around the corner or around the world.” Added second-place winner Elizabeth McCown: “We rely on UPS to ship our plants from Middleton to cities all over the country and beyond. Without their expertise, we would not be able to focus on creating new plant technologies and providing the newest plants on the market for our customers.” In 1981, Dr. Deborah McCown set up shop in the basement of their home in Middleton and now – more than 26 years later – sell more than 350,000 plants a year, ranging from blueberries and grapes to rhododendrons and azaleas. The company is still family-owned and operated. “Plant reproduction technology is in high demand, and KHN has accepted contracts from all sorts of establishments – from private farms and arboreta to U.S. government agencies,” Dr. Deborah McCown said. The technology used at KHN was first perfected at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by Dr. Brent McCown in the late 1970s. KHN was then established to meet the demand for quickly and efficiently reproduced woody plants. These plants are produced by a plant reproduction – or cloning – method using sterile test-tube culture called micropropagation. The end results are unique, high-value plant specimens – including patented ornamental trees and shrubs. The UPS Best “Out-of-the-Box” Small Business Contest honors innovative small businesses with 2006 revenues of at least US$250,000 but not more than US$10 million. Eligible businesses in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, the Philippines, and Singapore were asked to submit 500-word essays explaining why they’re original and how they’ve been successful. The entries were judged on originality, business implementation, and business results. Receiving recognition for first place was Sittercity.com of Chicago, and third place went to Safe-T-Proof Disaster Preparedness, Inc. in Sylmar, Calif. In honor of its Centennial celebration this year, UPS awarded Binalot Fiesta Foods, Inc., based in the Philippines, with its Centennial prize. UPS helps small businesses synchronize global commerce through a superior set of package delivery, supply chain, and financial services. Additionally, UPS’s broad portfolio of technology solutions can help small businesses go global, go online, or simply conduct their operations more efficiently. The UPS Store offers document and shipping services at convenient locations throughout the country. Meanwhile, UPS Capital, the financial services arm of UPS, serves small businesses with a number of innovative products and services designed to help them accelerate their payments, gain access to crucial working capital, and minimize the risks of international trade. UPS is the world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
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