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A video about Western Illinois University alumna Susan Kaufman's Monmouth, IL, small business has made it to the final round of a national video contest. Kaufman, who earned her bachelor's degree at Western in 1988, owns Market Alley Wines. Recently, she entered a short video about it in the National Retail Federation's "This Is Retail" nationwide video contest. Read more Kaufman's background and her video contest entry at http://bit.ly/HFCWfC.
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Alum's Video about Her Monmouth, IL, Biz in Top Five of National Video Contest

April 17, 2012

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MACOMB, IL – A Western Illinois University alumna's video about her small Monmouth, IL, business has made it to the final round of a national video contest. Susan Kaufman, who earned her bachelor's degree at Western in 1988, owns Market Alley Wines. Recently, she entered a short video about her business in the National Retail Federation's "This Is Retail" nationwide video contest.

After two rounds of online voting, Kaufman's video has made it into the final round as one of the top five videos. According to the contest rules, the first-place winner will receive $25,000, and the second- and third-place winners will receive $15,000 and $10,000 respectively.

"The final round of voting begins today, Tuesday, April 17, and continues through Sunday, April 22," Kaufman said. "I am simply amazed by the local support we've received. It was an honor to just make it into the top 20. I had to pinch myself when I found out we made the top five. It's all due to our wonderful, energized customers."

Last week, when Kaufman's video was in the semi-final round, she took time out of her busy schedule to provide a short question-and-answer interview via Western Illinois University Relations' blog, "Beyond the Bell Tower"; the post can be viewed at wiurelations.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/alum-wine-biz-video-finalist/.

According to Kaufman, more than 420,000 votes were cast in the semifinal round, and voting in the final round is available at retailmeansjobs.com/vote. The Market Alley Wines video can be viewed at RetailMeansJobs.com/thisisretail/SusanKaufman, as well as the Market Alley Wines' website (www.marketalleywines.com) and Facebook page (see http://on.fb.me/HR75gN).

"People can vote up to 10 times per day per their email accounts. We are up against some pretty large businesses in major cities, but we've certainly got an advantage being from a small town. Midwesterners really know how to come together and support each other," Kaufman added.

Kaufman said the top five videos will compete against each other this week with the top three finalists announced May 1.

"The remaining three finalists will be flown to the National Retail Federation's Washington Leadership Conference for the announcement of the contest rankings May 16," Kaufman explained. "NRF's 'This is Retail' video contest is a part of the association's multi-faceted 'Retail Means Jobs' campaign. The contest is designed to promote retail as a career and demonstrate the multitude of career choices available within the retail industry," she explained.

"The retail industry is a powerful force that connects people, creates jobs, supports communities and strengthens our economy," said National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay in an NRF press release. "These five finalists represent the tens of millions of people who work in retail, and by helping them tell their stories through our 'This Is Retail' contest, we are able to put an individual face to a gigantic industry."

For more information about Market Alley Wines, contact Kaufman at susan@marketalleywines.com. Learn more about the final round of the NRF contest at http://bit.ly/HVdVNG.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing