British Airways offers free travel for US businesses

British Airways, committed to keeping entrepreneurship alive and to helping stimulate global business, announced today the launch of “Business Opportunity Grants.” The airline and its partners, Regu

British Airways, committed to keeping entrepreneurship alive and to helping stimulate global business, announced today the launch of “Business Opportunity Grants.” The airline and its partners, Regus Office Services, Courtyard by Marriott, Canon USA, Inc., and British Airways World Cargo, will award 100 small-to medium-size US businesses free travel to anywhere in the world where British Airways flies plus valuable products and services to help support their businesses and maximize their travel experiences.

“Business Opportunity Grants” is phase two of “Face-to-Face,” a multi-phased campaign that aims to drive forward small- and medium-sized enterprises by focusing on tangible, human connections as a crucial driver of business growth. The program will offer these companies a variety of support including the opportunity to travel overseas and conduct face-to-face business meetings that will result in new and/or deeper partnerships, new projects, and revenue for US cities.

“Business Opportunity Grant” recipients will be awarded 10 British Airways roundtrip transatlantic Club World business-class tickets to be used at their business’ discretion in 2010. Regus will provide five Businessworld Gold Cards offering access to its business lounges worldwide. Courtyard by Marriott will provide each grant winner US$1,000 toward accommodations. Canon will provide each grant winner a PIXMA MX860 Wireless Office All-In-One Printer, specifically designed for small businesses, including printer, copier, scan, fax, and photo lab capabilities. British Airways World Cargo will offer each winning company five free global shipments of up to 500 kilos, including fuel and security fees, shipped from any BA World Cargo US gateway.

“Connecting people globally is our number one objective, and we’ve long known that the key to building a successful long-term business partnership is through face-to-face meetings,” said Simon Talling-Smith, executive vice president, Americas, British Airways. “Even after giving away close to 1,000 seats during phase one of the campaign to help US entrepreneurs grow their businesses, we realized there was still more we could do. Our hope is that the ‘Business Opportunity Grants’ help these businesses increase their revenues and reach important milestones in their strategic growth plans.”

Businesses interested in entering the competition should visit www.ba.com/facetoface to complete the entry form telling British Airways about their business objectives in 2010 and how a grant would benefit their business. Entries will be reviewed by a group of British Airways executives and its communications and business partners. Entries will be accepted until midnight (PDT) September 30, 2009, and winners will be notified by late November. Entries must represent companies with 500 employees or less and have a Federal Tax ID Number.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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