SPROUTS! WINS NORTHERN PALM BEACH COUNTY SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

Palm Beach Grdens, FL - The Northern Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce (NPBC) held its annual Leadership Awards Dinner on Thursday, June 4 in the Grand Ballroom of the renowned PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens. The "Shining Star Gala" themed event was sponsored by Roger Dean Stadium and is North Palm Beach County´s Premier Business Event for 2009. The gala affair was attended by over 300 patrons, representing a cross-section of Northern Palm Beach´s most high-profile business and community leaders. Attendees were treated to cocktails, an amazing spread of food and live entertainment.

The event celebrated the remarkable accomplishments of leadership in Palm Beach County and honored the four winners of the NPBC´s 2009 Leadership Awards (Small Business of the Year, Community Leader of the Year, Volunteer of the Year and the Chairman´s Award of Excellence). Garnering Small Business of the Year was Sprouts!, an innovative West Palm Beach-based company that uses 100% recycled paper embedded with flower seeds to create a diverse array of environmentally friendly products. Accepting the prestigious award was Sprouts! president and founder, Sharon Quercioli, a lifelong entrepreneur with over twenty years in the recycle industry. In her acceptance address, Quercioli graciously thanked her staff for their dedication, team work and extraordinary commitment to quality control and customer service. Quercioli dedicated the award to her late mother, Rose, whom she cited as the company´s inspiration.

Founded just five years ago, Sprouts products include greeting cards, bookmarks, Blooming Boxes™ and a host of custom marketing pieces − all of which grow flowers when planted. Sprouts products can be purchased directly from the company´s Web site (www.sproutem.com) or custom printed to accommodate various volumes, sizes and print specifications. Instead of being discarded and contributing to landfill waste, Sprouts paper can be planted in the earth...and a beautiful garden will grow.

In 2008, Sprouts jumped onto the national stage after launching its "Bee Kind" campaign with the creation of a paper embedded with 100% pollinator-friendly flower seeds. Haagen-Dazs utilized this paper for a marketing piece that was inserted into Newsweek magazine. Recently, a number of large corporations (Publix, Samsung, Virgin Mobile, The Office Depot Foundation and the Oprah Winfrey Network) have also turned to Sprouts! for high-impact marketing pieces.

If you´d like more information about Sprouts! or would like to schedule an interview with Sharon Quercioli, please call Glenn R. Swift at (772) 323-6925 or e-mail news@sproutem.com.