Following in the footsteps of the annual Thanksgiving-themed “Small Business Saturday from American Express,” UPS initiated its own “Small Business Salute” in 2015.

According to Kate Maddux, writing for Advertising Age, this is the UPS plan for 2016:

“The UPS Store is turning National Small Business Week (May 1-7) into Small Business Month, with a monthlong campaign called “Small Biz Salute” that kicked off on Monday May 2, 2016. The campaign includes in-person events, a business-pitch contest, social media, and a partnership with Marcus Lemonis, host of the CNBC reality show ‘The Profit.'”

“‘Small business owners are a core part of our business, and we want to provide them with resources and tools to help them be successful,’ said Michelle Van Slyke, VP-marketing at The UPS Store. ‘Small Biz Salute’ is part of an overall rebranding effort The UPS Store launched in 2012 to target small business customers, under UPS’s campaign ‘United Problem Solvers.'”

“Ms. Van Slyke said the ‘Small Biz Salute’ campaign will focus on two areas: Networking and insights. ‘The more small businesses can network and be with other small businesses, the more they can be successful at growing their own businesses,’ Ms. Van Slyke said. The UPS Store is hosting four local, in-person events during May, in Minneapolis (May 4), Nashville (May 12), Houston (May 18) and Phoenix (May 24), at which Mr. Lemonis and other thought leaders will present keynote speeches and share insights about how to be successful at running a small business.”

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