Official Rules and Eligibility Criteria

1. The program

Microcap Honors is a national awards program celebrating the best leaders, founders, and innovators in American small business. It is founded and administered by Shore Capital Partners, LLC ("Shore") and judged independently. Eight awards are presented each year: four individual awards (CEO of the Year, Founder of the Year, Financial Professional of the Year, Operator of the Year) and four company awards (Healthcare Company of the Year, Business Services Company of the Year, Food & Beverage Company of the Year, Industrials Company of the Year).

There is no fee to be nominated, to apply, or to participate at any stage. No purchase, investment, or business relationship with Shore or any sponsor is required or considered.

By submitting a nomination or an application, you agree to these Rules and to the Microcap Honors Privacy Policy. Shore may update these Rules between cycles; the version in effect when nominations open governs that cycle.

2. Eligibility

2.1 Company requirements (all eight awards)

Every nominee, whether an individual or a company, must be tied to a company that meets all of the following at the time of application and through the award ceremony:

• Headquartered and primarily operating in the United States.
• Trailing-twelve-month EBITDA of at least $1 million and no more than $10 million. Where a company does not track EBITDA, operating cash flow or a documented best estimate may be reported at application; finalists must verify financials (Section 5.3).
• Independently owned. Companies owned or controlled by a private equity fund, venture capital fund, or similar institutional investor, whether through a majority or a controlling minority position, are not eligible. Founder, family, management, and employee-owned companies, and companies with passive minority investment from individuals, are eligible. Shore may request ownership documentation.
• Not a Shore Capital Partners portfolio company or former portfolio company, and not owned in any part by Shore, its funds, or its portfolio companies.
• Not owned or controlled by a Microcap Honors sponsor, judge, or advisory board member, or by a member of their immediate family.
• In good standing: an active legal entity with no unresolved regulatory, licensing, or sanctions matters that, in Shore's reasonable judgment, would make recognition inappropriate.

2.2 Individual award requirements

The nominee must have held the qualifying role at an eligible company for at least the twelve months preceding the nomination:

• CEO of the Year: the sitting chief executive officer.
• Founder of the Year: a founder or co-founder who remains materially involved in the company they founded.
• Financial Professional of the Year: the sitting chief financial officer or top finance executive, including a Head of Finance or Finance Director.
• Operator of the Year: the sitting chief operating officer, president, or general manager.

2.3 Company award requirements

The company's primary business must fall within the award's sector: healthcare services, delivery, suppliers, and supply chain (including pharmaceuticals) or related sub-sectors; business-to-business or business services; food or beverage, including producers, brands, restaurants and hospitality, distributors, and vendors to the food and beverage industry; or manufacturing, industrial services, construction and trades, distribution, or related sectors. Award category descriptions are published in the Microcap Honors Award Categories document. Shore determines sector placement and may reassign an entry to the category that best fits its primary business.

2.4 Who may not participate

Employees, partners, executive partners, operating partners, and contractors of Shore and its affiliates; current judges and advisory board members; employees of sponsors; and the immediate family members of any of these are not eligible to be nominated or to apply. A company may be entered in more than one category where it qualifies, but an individual may be nominated for only one individual award per cycle.

3. Nominations

• Nominations open November 1, 2026 and close December 31, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. Late nominations are not accepted.
• Anyone may nominate: a person may nominate someone else, a company, themselves, or their own company. There is no limit on the number of nominations a person may submit, but duplicate nominations of the same nominee are merged.
• Nominations are submitted through the online form at microcaphonors.com. A nomination requires the nominee's name, company, role, and contact details, the proposed category, and a short statement. Nominators confirm that the information is accurate to their knowledge and that they have a reasonable basis to believe the nominee is eligible.
• A nomination is not an entry. On receipt of a nomination, the nominee receives an email with a link to complete the application. Only completed applications are considered.

4. Applications

• Applications are due February 1, 2027 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. Nominees who do not submit a completed application by the deadline are not considered, and their nomination is closed for the cycle.
• The application must be completed by the nominee or an officer of the company with authority to make the representations in it. Every required field must be answered, and the attestations in Section G of the application must be made.
• Applicants represent that the information they provide is truthful and accurate to the best of their knowledge. A material misstatement at any stage is grounds for removal from the program, including after an award is announced.
• Shore may contact an applicant during screening to clarify an ambiguous answer or request supporting information. The applicant has ten business days to respond. Shore does not coach applicants and does not accept supplemental materials after the deadline except in response to such a request.
• Applications may be withdrawn at any time by email to nominations@microcaphonors.com.

5. Screening and verification

5.1 Eligibility screen

Every application is screened against Section 2. Applications that fail are closed and the applicant is notified. Eligibility determinations are made by the program team; close calls are referred to the Program Lead, whose decision is final.

5.2 Verification

Microcap Honors is judged on evidence. Once an application is received, program analysts screen it for eligibility and verify its financial figures and the claims in it against public and third-party sources, which may include state business registries, professional networking sites, company websites, review sites, news and court records, sanctions and exclusion lists, and licensing databases. A claim that cannot be supported by evidence is treated, for scoring purposes, as if it had not been made. Applicants are encouraged to attach or link supporting documents.

5.3 Finalist verification and background check

Before any finalist is notified, the program runs a background check on the finalist and, for company awards, on the company's principal executives, covering litigation history, regulatory matters, sanctions and exclusion lists, adverse media, and public social media. Finalists must also verify the financial figures in their application by providing a profit-and-loss statement or filed federal or state tax returns for the relevant periods. A finalist who declines verification, or whose verified figures place the company outside the eligibility band, is removed. Removed entries are replaced by the next-ranked entry in the category, which goes through the same checks. Verification materials are handled under the Privacy Policy and are not shared with judges, sponsors, or anyone outside the program team.

6. Judging

• Independent judges score every entry that passes screening and verification. Judges are experienced operators, founders, directors, and investors. They are not employees of Shore. Judge names are published on microcaphonors.com.
• Each entry is scored by the judges on a 0-to-10 scale in each dimension. Individual awards are scored on Growth, Profitability, Culture, and Entrepreneurial Spirit. Company awards are scored on Growth, Profitability, and Culture. An entry's total is the sum of its dimension scores; its composite is the average of the totals given by the judges who scored it.
• Judges score independently from the application and the program team's verification brief. The evidence rule applies: a big claim with no evidence scores as if the claim were not made.
• After scoring, the judges convene to select the finalists in each category from the ranked composites. Finalists are announced on or about April 1, 2027. The judges then convene again to select one winner per category. Winner selections are sealed until the ceremony, where winners are announced.
• Ties are resolved by judge deliberation and majority vote. The judges may name fewer finalists in a category if the pool does not support them. A category may have no winner only with the approval of the program's advisory board.
• Judging decisions are final. Scores, deliberations, and the identity of a judge who scored any particular entry are confidential and are not disclosed to applicants, sponsors, or the public.

7. Independence and conflicts of interest

• Shore facilitates the program and does not score or vote. Shore employees do not participate in judging.
• Sponsors fund the program. Sponsorship confers no influence over nominations, screening, judging, finalist selection, or outcomes. No judging-adjacent benefit is offered to or negotiable by any sponsor.
• Judges agree to the Judge Conflict of Interest Policy when they accept a seat, review the applicant list before applications are distributed, and disclose any personal, financial, or professional interest in an applicant using the Judge Conflict of Interest Disclosure. A judge with a conflict is recused from that entry at every stage. Recusals are logged.
• No applicant, nominator, or sponsor may offer, and no judge, advisory board member, or program team member may accept, anything of value in connection with the program. Any attempt to influence a judge is grounds for removal.

8. Finalists, winners, and recognition

• Finalists receive an invitation to the Microcap Honors awards ceremony in Chicago on May 27, 2027. Reasonable travel expenses for one representative per finalist entry are reimbursed after the event under the program's travel policy. Attendance at the ceremony is required to receive recognition; an excused absence may be approved by the Program Lead.
• Winners are revealed on stage at the ceremony. Each winner receives a Microcap Honors award, recognition on microcaphonors.com and in program materials, a strategy session with Shore Capital Partners for their business, access to Shore's Learning Management System for their team, an invitation to Shore's Executive Leadership Academy conference in July, and a feature in one of Shore's podcast series. No cash prize is awarded. Recognition benefits are non-transferable and have no cash value.
• Finalist and winner status is a recognition of past performance as evidenced in the application. It is not an endorsement by Shore or any sponsor of the company, its securities, or any investment, and it is not investment advice. Finalists and winners may describe the recognition accurately in their own communications and may use the Microcap Honors finalist or winner mark under the program's usage guidelines.
• By accepting finalist status, the finalist consents to Microcap Honors publishing their name, title, company, category, and a short description, and to the use of their name, likeness, and statements made at program events in program recap content, press materials, and the microcaphonors.com site.

9. Use of information

Information submitted to the program is used to administer the program as described in the Microcap Honors Privacy Policy. Application data is confidential to the program team and the judges. Shore may publish aggregate, anonymized findings from application data in program research. Sponsors do not receive application data.

10. General conditions

• Removal. Shore may remove an entry at any stage for ineligibility, material misstatement, failure to complete verification, conduct that would bring the program into disrepute, or any attempt to influence judging. Where an award has already been announced, Shore may rescind it.
• Changes and cancellation. Shore may modify the program calendar, categories, or these Rules for good reason, and may suspend or cancel a cycle if it cannot be run fairly. Material changes are posted at microcaphonors.com.
• Decisions. Decisions of the program team on eligibility and administration, and of the judges on scoring and selection, are final.
• Limitation of liability. To the extent permitted by law, Shore, its affiliates, sponsors, judges, and advisory board members are not liable for any loss arising from participation in the program, from any technical failure of the nomination or application systems, or from the publication of finalist or winner information in accordance with these Rules.
• Governing law. These Rules are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
• Contact. Questions about eligibility, nominations, applications, or these Rules: nominations@microcaphonors.com. Program administration: Shore Capital Partners, One East Wacker Drive, Suite 2900, Chicago, Illinois 60601.