Green Bay, Wis. (December 12, 2013) — When a Green Bay, Wis., couple opened KidzTown, they hoped they would be helping parents find creative outlets for their children and win the support of those parents.

The family-oriented business has made a positive impact on the local community, so when it was nominated for the Dough to Grow Award contest hosted by Valpak, a leader in print and digital coupons, those parents quickly rallied the support needed to win.

So much so, that Kidz Town has just been named the $7,500 Grand Prize winner, and will use the award to help their business grow. The online contest for small businesses employed the power of social media and customer loyalty in search of North America's favorite small businesses.

Lifelong Green Bay residents Keegan and Jake Eggert, who have four kids of their own, opened the interactive play center for kids of all ages in October 2012. The center features a mini-town that's just the right size for kids.

With dreams of expanding their business to provide more fun for families as well as sensory services for autistic children, the Eggerts entered Valpak's Dough to Grow contest to keep their business growing at the pace of its expanding clientele. With a little help from loyal customers and online friends, the Eggerts and Kidz Town is taking home the grand prize.

"We are so thrilled about winning this award… We are family-oriented people, and have always done our best to live our life around our family and find the right balance," says Kidz Town owner, Keegan Eggert. "So, when we had an opportunity to purchase Kidz Town, we thought it would be a great place for us to work and include our family and have it be a true family business. I think we succeeded," he said. "We spend a lot of time there, and so do our kids, so we really love it and put a lot of work into it."

The first year in business was a whirlwind, and the community's response was very positive. It was so well-received; they soon realized the opportunity to touch an even larger part of their community by expanding their service offerings.

"We came out (of the first year) with a lot of good ideas," said Eggert. "We wanted to add drop-in daycare and summer camp services. So now Jake and I are studying to get a degree in Human Development in order to get the additional licenses for Kidz Town."

Loyal Kidz Town customer and mother of two, Dana Kressig, talks about the desire to see the local business succeed. "Kidz Town is a huge part of our life. It is such a unique place for kids to learn and play and enhance their imagination. Plus, they are a local family who do a lot for other families in our community, so we really want to see their business do well."

Kidz Town will use the Dough to Grow Award funds to pay off the small balance owed from buying the business. With the remainder, they have big ideas to invest in new toys and equipment to make the mini-town more interactive. Plus, they plan to add a sensory room specifically designed to engage children who have autism. Eggert explains, "We have a lot of families with children who have autism, and those parents talk about how great it is they have a place to go and how they want more sensory things for their kids. Now, we have the means to make that dream come true."

Valpak launched the Dough to Grow Award because it is keenly aware of the obstacles small business owners must overcome to grow their business. Valpak franchises in more than 170 cities in 45 states and four Canadian provinces partner with tens of thousands of businesses to help them reach new customers and increase the bottom line through print and digital direct marketing products.

"The Dough to Grow contest truly demonstrates how small businesses can harness the power of social media. Kidz Town's entry stood out because of their story, but their online network really came through for them and made it hard to ignore," said Michael Vivio, president of Cox Target Media, provider of Valpak.

About Valpak®
Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America, is owned and operated by Cox Target Media. With nearly 170 franchises across the United States and Canada, the signature Blue Envelope® delivers coupons and savings to nearly 40 million households each month. Annually, Valpak will distribute some 20 billion offers inserted in more than 500 million envelopes. Valpak also offers digital solutions online through https://www.valpak.com/ and http://www.valpak.ca, sites offering free coupons, e-commerce and coupon codes. Additionally, the Valpak coupon mobile coupon app for smartphone platforms delivers easy to find savings for consumers. For more information about advertising with Valpak, please contact 1-800-676-6878.

About Cox Media Group
Cox Media Group is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of Cox Reps. Additionally, CMG owns and operates Cox Media Group is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of CoxReps. Additionally, CMG owns Cox Target Media, which operates Valpak, one of North America’s leading direct marketing companies, and Savings.com, a leading online source for savings. The company’s operations currently include 14 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 57 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services. CMG currently operates in more than 20 media markets and reaches approximately 52 million Americans weekly, including more than 30 million TV viewers, more than 4 million print and online newspaper readers, and 14 million radio listeners. For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at www.coxmediagroup.com.

Contact

Marsha Strickhouser
Valpak
8605 Largo Lakes Drive
Largo, FL 33773
(727) 399-3175
marsha_strickhouser@valpak.com

Elisabeth Holby
919 Marketing
(919) 459-8167
eholby@919marketing.com