By Rick Horrow and Karla Swatek
September 15, 2011
At the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Atlanta on September 4, Kacy Howard’s pet care business was promoted on Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Office Depot car. Simultaneously, Sara Mortenson’s mold service business was emblazoned on Greg Biffle’s No. 16 3M car. It’s all part of the Office Depot Official Small Business of NASCAR program, which is just one example of how Office Depot leverages its partnership with NASCAR to help small business owners take care of business.
As the two finalists in the Office Depot contest, Howard and Mortensen each won a $10,000 small business makeover and a chance to win $1 million, eventually claimed by Howard. Howard also secured the right to use the NASCAR bar mark and Official Small Business of NASCAR logo for one year and is now able to leverage the marketing power of NASCAR, and its millions of brand loyal fans, to give a jolt to her small pet-centric company.
