Children's TV Producer Wins Direct Capital's 20th Anniversary Competition

PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Jan. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A Rhode Island-based entrepreneur who produces children's television programming has won Direct Capital's national "Small Biz, BIG Success" award competition and the $10,000 prize that goes with it, the company announced today.

William Culbertson and his North Smithfield company, Whooplah LLC, won the national competition by producing this video that described his work. Culbertson has created a children's television program from scratch -- even sewing his puppets by hand and creating elaborate scenes from recycled materials. Whooplah plans to use the $10,000 prize money to go into production on an upcoming series for PBS.

Direct Capital sponsored the competition as part of its 20th anniversary celebration. Companies competed for the award by producing videos that explain how they will use the prize money; how they make every interaction with their customers remarkable; their passion, scrappiness, and creative problem-solving skills.

"Culbertson's passion for his business and his scrappiness in finding creative solutions to put it all together really came through in his video submission. We are thrilled to be able to give Whooplah a jump start in 2014," said Stephen Lankler, senior vice president for the Portsmouth, NH-based company.

Whooplah was chosen by a panel of judges from the Direct Capital executive staff, based on the judging criteria found here. Over the last several months, small businesses across the country had the chance to enter to win the $10,000 to help fund the project of their choice.

Direct Capital was started in Portsmouth 20 years ago this November. Since its inception, the company has lent $2.25 billion to more than 80,000 businesses across over 1,000 different industries. The company was recently named to the Inc. 500/5000 list of the fastest-growing private U.S. businesses.

Direct Capital's growth has been accelerated by its unique, tech-enabled approach to delivering fast, easy, affordable financing to small businesses. No other online lending platform exists today to instantly deliver 30 day to 7-year financing for every major need of a small business, franchisee or customer of a large equipment vendor.

To learn more about the award, follow this link. Learn more about Culbertson's production, Pollywod Pond.

About Direct Capital

Direct Capital is the leading technology-powered lender for small businesses, featuring the only digital platform that instantly delivers 30-day to 7-year financing for any business need. With 20+ years of experience, the company has lent $2.25 billion to more than 80,000 businesses across over 1,000 different industries. Direct Capital was recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private U.S. businesses and has the industry's highest customer satisfaction score. For more information, please visit http://www.directcapital.com or follow us through Twitter at http://twitter.com/DirectCapital or our PointBlank blog at http://blog.directcapital.com/

Michelle Dillon 
Brodeur Partners
603-559-5835 
[email protected]

Stephen Lankler 
Senior Vice President 
Direct Capital Corporation 
Phone: (603) 433-9470 
[email protected]

SOURCE Direct Capital