MICROCAP HONORS · INAUGURAL CLASS OF 2027

Privacy Policy

Effective November 1, 2026

1. Introduction

Microcap Honors is a national awards program founded and administered by Shore Capital Partners, LLC ("Shore"), One East Wacker Drive, Suite 2900, Chicago, Illinois 60601. This policy explains what personal and business information Shore collects through the program, how Shore uses and shares it, how long Shore keeps it, and the choices participants have. It applies to nominators, nominees, applicants, finalists, winners, judges, advisory board members, sponsors, and ceremony guests. It supplements, and does not replace, Shore's general Privacy Notice, which applies to Shore's investment advisory business.

2. Information

2.1 Information given

  • Nominations: submitted through microcaphonors.com; the nominator's name, email, and relationship to the nominee; the nominee's name, company, role, and contact details; the proposed category; and the nomination statement. Anyone may nominate another person, a company, themselves, or their own company.
  • Applications: nominees receive an email with a link to the application. The application collects the applicant's name, mailing address, email, phone, and LinkedIn profile; company name, the applicant's role and time in role, company website, LinkedIn page, email, and phone, and a short description of the business; how the company is owned, whether it is primarily U.S. owned and operated, and any ownership by Shore or its portfolio companies; financial information including whether financials are reviewed by a CPA, trailing-twelve-month EBITDA or operating cash flow, trailing-twelve-month revenue, and fiscal year end; narratives on company culture and talent development and on entrepreneurial spirit; and the attestations and signature.
  • Finalist verification: financial statements or filed tax returns, and ownership documentation, where requested.
  • Event participation: RSVP, dietary and accessibility needs, travel and reimbursement details, and guest names.
  • Correspondence: anything a participant sends to program email addresses.

2.2 Information collected

To verify applications, Shore consults public and third-party sources, which may include state business registries, professional networking sites, company websites, employee and customer review sites, news archives, court and regulatory records, sanctions and exclusion lists, licensing databases, and commercial databases of private company ownership. For finalists, Shore obtains background check reports covering litigation, regulatory matters, sanctions, adverse media, and public social media, from a third-party provider or through its internal process. Shore may also receive information about a nominee from the person who nominated them.

The nomination and application forms and the microcaphonors.com site collect standard technical information (IP address, browser, device, pages viewed, and the source link that brought the visitor to the form) through Shore's form and website providers, including cookies and similar technologies. Shore uses this to run the site, measure the program's reach, and attribute nominations to their source.

2.3 Photographs and recordings

Program events, including the awards ceremony, are photographed, filmed, and livestreamed. By attending, guests consent to being recorded and to the use of recordings as described in Section 3.

3. Use of information

  • Administration: receive nominations, email each nominee a link to the application, screen completed applications for eligibility, verify financial figures and claims, prepare evidence briefs for judges, run judging, support the judges' selection of finalists and winners, conduct finalist verification and background checks, notify finalists and winners, and manage the ceremony.
  • Communication: confirmations, reminders, clarification requests, decisions, event logistics, and program updates during the cycle.
  • Recognition: publishing names, titles, companies, categories, and short descriptions on microcaphonors.com, in press materials, on social media, in the livestream, in recap content, and in Shore's podcast series; and using the name, likeness, and statements of finalists, winners, judges, and speakers made at program events.
  • Integrity: keeping an audit record of scores, recusals, verification results, and decisions; investigating suspected misstatements or attempts to influence judging; and screening for conflicts of interest.
  • Research and improvement: analyzing application data in aggregate, anonymized form to report on trends among U.S. micro-cap companies and to refine future cycles. Published research does not identify any individual or company without consent.
  • Outreach: Shore may invite finalists and winners to Shore programs such as the Executive Leadership Academy and may keep in contact with program participants about future Microcap Honors cycles and Shore's small-business community. Participants can opt out at any time (Section 6).
  • Compliance: responding to legal process, enforcing the Official Rules, and protecting the safety and rights of participants and the program.

Shore does not sell personal information and does not use application data to market third-party products or services to participants.

4. Information sharing

  • Judges and the advisory board: judges receive applications, supporting documents, and the program team's evidence briefs for the entries they score. Advisory board members receive aggregate information and, where an edge case requires their decision, the relevant entry details. Both are bound by confidentiality and conflict-of-interest obligations.
  • Service providers: companies that host the program's forms and website, send program email, run background checks, process event logistics and travel reimbursements, and provide data storage. They act on Shore's instructions and may use the information only to provide their services.
  • Sponsors: sponsors receive the names, companies, and categories of finalists and winners, and attendee lists for the ceremony. Sponsors do not receive applications, financial information, verification materials, or scores, and have no role in judging.
  • The public: finalist and winner information as described in Section 3. Nominees who are not named finalists are not identified publicly.
  • Within Shore: the program team, and Shore personnel who support events, communications, compliance, and legal functions. Application financial and verification materials are restricted to the program team and are not shared with Shore's investment professionals.
  • Legal and safety: where required by law, subpoena, or regulator, or where necessary to protect the program or any person.
  • Business transfers: if Shore reorganizes the program or transfers its administration to an affiliate or successor, program records may be transferred with it, subject to this policy.

4.1 Information storage

Nomination and application records, verification results, scores, recusals, and decisions are kept for the program cycle and for three years after the ceremony, to support the year-end audit, respond to questions, and administer any alumni community. Finalist financial statements and tax returns are deleted within ninety days after the ceremony unless needed for an open dispute. Background check reports are retained only as long as the provider's and Shore's legal obligations require. Finalist and winner recognition content may be retained indefinitely as part of the program's record. Nominees who do not apply have their nomination record deleted within twelve months of the close of the cycle, except for the fact of the nomination.

5. Information protection

Program information is stored in Shore's managed systems and approved service providers, with access limited to people who need it to administer the program. Financial and verification materials are held separately from general program records. Program team members are instructed not to copy participant data to personal devices or unapproved tools. No system is perfectly secure; if Shore learns of a breach affecting a participant's information, Shore will notify that participant as the law requires.

6. Choices and rights

  • Access and correction: participants may ask what information Shore holds about them in connection with the program and ask Shore to correct it.
  • Withdrawal: a nominator may withdraw a nomination, and an applicant may withdraw an application, at any time. Withdrawal before the finalist announcement removes the entry from consideration; after announcement, Shore may continue to display finalist status unless the finalist asks Shore to remove it.
  • Opt-out of communications: every program email includes an unsubscribe link, and participants may email the program at any time. Operational messages about an active application (for example, a clarification request or a decision) continue until the cycle closes.
  • Publicity: finalists who do not wish to be named publicly should tell the program team before the finalist announcement. Because public recognition is the purpose of the program, declining publicity may mean withdrawing from consideration.
  • Deletion: participants may ask Shore to delete their information. Shore will do so except where it needs to keep it for the audit record, legal obligations, or the recognition record of finalists and winners.
  • State privacy rights: residents of states with consumer privacy laws may have additional rights, including the right to know, delete, correct, and limit certain uses. Shore honors these requests as the applicable law requires, without discrimination.

To exercise any of these rights, email nominations@microcaphonors.com. Shore may need to verify the requester's identity before acting on a request.

7. Children

The program is for business leaders and companies. Shore does not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

8. Changes to this policy

Shore may update this policy between cycles or as the law requires. The current version is posted at microcaphonors.com with its effective date. Material changes affecting an active cycle are communicated to participants by email.

9. Contact

Microcap Honors program team, Shore Capital Partners, One East Wacker Drive, Suite 2900, Chicago, Illinois 60601. nominations@microcaphonors.com.