Stillwater Business Owner Among Top Winners In National Contest

Jenny Jafek-Jones, owner of the Crimson Poppy in Stillwater, is getting the push she needs to succeed.

Jafek-Jones was one of hundreds of small businesses that entered the "Give Your Small Business the Push It Needs" contest for a chance to win free advertising. She was one of five winners who won $40,000 in advertising and $10,000 in cash.

Jafek-Jones makes paper flowers. She uses paper she orders from Germany and can virtually design any color or variety of flower. It takes her anywhere from one to four hours to create the flowers, depending on the flower. She takes orders online and ships to locations around the world, including England, Australia, Poland and all across the United States. Her work was recently displayed in the celebrity lounges at both the Golden Globes and Academy Awards events in Hollywood.

1/15/2012 Related Story: Work Of Stillwater Artist Gets Noticed In Hollywood

The contest she entered was sponsored by Staples, an office products company. Small businesses entered the contest by submitting a 15-second video about their company on Staples' Facebook page from January to March 14, 2012. Hundreds of videos were submitted. The five winners were selected based on the number online votes and by a panel of Staples judges.

"Small businesses are eager to grow their companies, and it was exciting to see the creativity and enthusiasm they brought to this program," said John Giusti, vice president of small business marketing, Staples. "Small businesses play a critical role in driving the American economy. We are thrilled to award these five winning small businesses with television advertising to help them achieve their business goals in 2012."

The five winners include:

• Ryan Siegel, CEO of Outta The Box Marketing in Fairfield, New Jersey. Founded in 2011, Outta The Box Marketing is a social media and marketing company that specializes in creating custom interactive Facebook pages, optimizing Twitter pages and custom YouTube, Vimeo and Google+ pages.

• Jeff Asper, Owner of Perigee Power Solutions in Hampstead, Maryland. Launched in 2010, Perigee Power Solutions LLC provides alternative portable power solutions supporting solar, hydro and wind energy sources.

• Jenny Jafek-Jones, Owner of the Crimson Poppy in Stillwater, Okla. Founded in 2009, Crimson Poppy offers more than 100 lifelike paper flower varieties used in colorful bouquets and custom floral arrangements.

• Deborah George Tsakoumakis, Founder/Owner of Wire-A-Cake/HB Bakery Connections in Huntington Beach, Calif. Established in 1987, the company created a network of bakeries to deliver cakes, pies and cookies for any occasion in 50 states and overseas to the military.

• Kim Hendry, Owner of Peekaboo Design Group in Dallas, Texas. Started in 2004, Peekaboo Design Group is a full-service planning and nursery design firm dedicated to alleviating stress for expecting parents, giving them time to focus on a healthy pregnancy and baby.

Each of the five small businesses will receive a total of $50,000 in local cable television advertising and cash in their home markets. This will include 15-seconds of advertising in a 30-second Staples television ad to run in their local market.

View the videos submitted by the winning businesses!