Clean the World Named 2014 Florida Companies to Watch Winner
Award From GrowFL and the Edward Lowe Foundation Honors Upcoming Businesses Throughout the Sunshine State
ORLANDO, FL. — (Sept. 8, 2014) – Clean the World has been selected as one of this year’s Florida Companies to Watch winners. The social-enterprise, which recycles and distributes discarded hotel soap, is one of 50 leading second-stage companies selected from more than 500 nominations statewide. All 2014 winners will join an esteemed group of 150 Florida alumni honored over the past three years.
Florida Companies to Watch is an awards program that celebrates privately held second-stage companies headquartered in the state. To be eligible, applicants must employ between 6 and 99 full-time equivalent employees, and have between $750,000 and $50 million in annual revenue or working capital in place. Awardees are selected for demonstrating the intent and capacity to grow based on employee or sales growth, exceptional entrepreneurial leadership, sustainable competitive advantage, outstanding corporate culture, inspired community giving and other notable strengths.
“It is an incredible honor to be recognized along with so many outstanding second-stage companies from throughout Florida,” said Clean the World founder and CEO Shawn Seipler. “We were dreaming big when this all started five years ago in a single-car garage in downtown Orlando. But we never expected to come so far so fast. We now have 50 full-time employees, and have shipped more than 20 million bars of recycled soap to 96 countries. I hope we can be an example to other social entrepreneurs that with a great idea and an amazing team, the sky is the limit.”
Clean the World will be recognized along with the other winners during the Florida Company to Watch celebration on Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Hard Rock Live at Universal Orlando.
Clean the World is a social enterprise with the mission of saving millions of lives around the world. Clean the World leads a Global Hygiene Revolution to distribute recycled soap and hygiene products from more than 2,000 hotel and resort partners to children and families in countries with a high death rate due to acute respiratory infection (pneumonia) and diarrheal diseases (cholera) – which are two of the top killers of children under 5. Since 2009, Clean the World has distributed more than 17 million bars of soap in 96 countries. Through the “ONE Project,” Clean the World provides hygiene kits to relief organizations throughout North America. More information: http://localhost:8888/cleantheworld
GrowFL was created in 2009 by the Florida legislature as an economic development program focused on assisting second-stage growth companies prosper in the state of Florida. By providing strategies, resources and support to second-stage companies for next level growth through Strategic Research and peer-to-peer CEO mentoring, GrowFL helps companies overcome obstacles to growth and leads them towards prosperity. Based on the philosophy of Economic Gardening®—to grow existing businesses in a community, region or state—GrowFL, the Florida Economic Gardening Institute, is a critical component to the state’s economic development strategy and Florida’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. GrowFL is a statewide economic development organization certified by the National Center for Economic Gardening through the Edward Lowe Foundation. Website: growfl.com
