Describe your business.

MKG is an experiential marketing and branding agency. The agency is a team of cultural obsessives that develop live events and experiences that ultimately create meaningful, lasting connections between people and brands. Founded in 2003 by Maneesh K. Goyal after he left the non-profit sector to pursue his passion for events, MKG hired its first employee in 2005 and now has 38 full-time employees in offices in New York and Los Angeles. MKG's clients represent some of the most recognized brands in the world - Delta Air Lines, Coca-Cola, Google, Ralph Lauren, and American Express among them.

How you have impacted your industry?

MKG has emerged as a true leader in experiential marketing and is being increasingly sought out by major brands wanting to deepen their connection with existing consumers and initiate a dialogue with new ones. As top innovators in the field, MKG has a strong focus on integrating emerging technologies into live event settings to bridge the gap between traditional marketing tactics and the new media era. We couple this progressive creativity with the keen ability to leverage a brand's existing assets in new and unique ways, setting us apart in the highly-competitive agency landscape. As Delta Air Lines President Ed Bastian has said, "There is no one else who does what MKG does." In addition, the team at MKG, which has been purposefully curated to reflect the exact same population that MKG's clients are targeting, is also committed to community change. In this regard, MKG is not only changing the way the industry thinks, but also changing the way small businesses interact within their community.

How are you giving back to the community?

Maneesh is a true believer in both the ability and responsibility of using small business as a vehicle to promote social change. Since founding MKG, it has been Maneesh's vision that MKG would not only be about "making big brands bigger", but that he would also instill in the agency and its employees a belief that we must engage our communities (both large and small) with dynamic interaction that will ultimately contribute to greater social good. This core value led to the creation of MKGives- a one-of-a-kind, three-tiered program designed to inspire giving as a way of life, professionally and personally. First, all agency employees are allocated (and mandated to use) 5 days of paid time (in addition to standard vacations) to dedicate to a non-profit organization of their choosing. Additionally, all full-time employees are allotted an individual annual fund to make financial contributions to a meaningful organization of their choosing, with the annual combined MKG contribution approaching $50,000 per year. Finally, each business quarter, MKG halts its business and the entire team unites to make a large-scale charitable impact during a single day. To be an MKG-er is, truly, to be a concerned and committed citizen.

Describe your business.

Thrillist.com is a leading men's lifestyle brand, providing a no-B.S. take on the best in food, drink, entertainment, nightlife, gadgets, and gear to 3 million subscribers across 20 cities in the U.S. and the U.K. Over the last year, we've expanded our footprint into e-commerce by acquiring members-only shopping club JackThreads.com and launching a super-targeted local experiences business called Thrillist Rewards.

How you have impacted your industry?

The biggest impact we've had on digital media has been our leadership with investing in the intersection of content and commerce. We've merged local and national e-commerce and content into one family of brands and we've proven that it's possible to turn readers into buyers and buyers into readers. Our success with this new model has demonstrated that media companies can go beyond traditional advertising to find other ways to service and monetize their audiences.

How are you giving back to the community?

As someone who has spent the last six years building Thrillist, I've learned to appreciate how important it is to have great mentors and great partners. As a result, two years ago I co-founded Lerer Ventures, an early-stage investment fund partnering with the next generation of entrepreneurs to help them tackle the challenges that any small business inevitably faces. It's a great way for me to keep my ear to the ground to make sure that Thrillist stays nimble, and, more importantly, it also gives me the opportunity to share what I've learned with other entrepreneurs and help them have the same amazing experience with entrepreneurialism that I've had. So far we've invested in over 50 companies and through these companies, we've helped to create many hundred, if not thousands, of new jobs.

Describe your business.

The mission behind glassybaby was born in chemo waiting rooms. The glassybaby founder Lee Rhodes remembers meeting patients who could not afford day-to-day needs like groceries and bus fare during treatment. Those are the costs health insurance does not cover but are needed in order for people to heal. Lee wanted to help them. To date, her company has donated more than $600,000 from sales to charities; many of these organizations help patients with those needs when they are sick. Everyday we hear from customers who are touched by glassybaby and Lee's story of survival. They share their stories of hope, humor, loss and love and tell us glassybaby are symbols of hope. As each one leaves the door, Lee, reflecting on her own journey, knows that it will play a part of light and hope in a new story. "glassybaby allow people to take that 30 seconds of peace and calm to find healing," Lee says. "I see people who come into glassybaby who are hurting. They still mean to other people what they meant to me. I feel joy that we have created something that touches so many people."

How you have impacted your industry?

Business experts told Lee again and again that a company selling a handmade product and giving money from sales back to charities would not survive. Yet, sales are up almost 40% this year and were up 50% last year. glassybaby is growing so fast the artists can't keep up with the demand. The more glassybaby sold, the more money the company can give back to charities. glassybaby led the way as a company that donates money from revenue. As a result, glassybaby is showing other businesses that a company can be both a good corporate citizen and a financial success. glassybaby strongly supports the glass art industry by continuing to hire glass artists. While glass studios around the country are struggling to stay in business and pay their artists, glassybaby is providing a living wage to its growing team of 70 artists that allows them to continue creating their own personal artwork.

How are you giving back to the community?

The mission behind glassybaby was born in chemo waiting rooms. The glassybaby founder Lee Rhodes remembers meeting patients who could not afford day-to-day needs like groceries and bus fare during treatment. Those are the costs health insurance does not cover but are needed in order for people to heal. Lee wanted to help them. To date, her company has donated more than $600,000 from sales to charities; many of these organizations help patients with those needs when they are sick. Everyday we hear from customers who are touched by glassybaby and Lee's story of survival. They share their stories of hope, humor, loss and love and tell us glassybaby are symbols of hope. As each one leaves the door, Lee, reflecting on her own journey, knows that it will play a part of light and hope in a new story. "glassybaby allow people to take that 30 seconds of peace and calm to find healing," Lee says. "I see people who come into glassybaby who are hurting. They still mean to other people what they meant to me. I feel joy that we have created something that touches so many people."

Describe your business.

Peanut butter hasn't changed a whole lot since its early inception in the 1930s and Justin had the simple yet brilliant ideas of flavor infusion and single-serving nut butter squeeze packs. He now has his sights on developing an entire line of culinary nut butter cups/candies that are not only healthier and made with sustainably sourced ingredients, but priced reasonably too.

How you have impacted your industry?

Since the launch of nut butter squeeze packs in 2004 the nut butter category has forever been changed with new and established companies launching nut butter squeeze packs of their own. This trend has also crossed into neighboring categories - applesauce, baby food, fruit preserves/pastes. Justin's major point of differentiation is taste and flavor. Justin's is the first culinary line of nut butters with a proprietary grinding process that maintains the integrity of the nut. Finally, corporate responsibility and local outreach is extremely important and strong within Justin's.

How are you giving back to the community?

Consumer packaged goods are tough on the environment. Everything from sourcing raw materials to manufacturing and distributing final products, has an environmental consequence. Justin thinks of his business as a part of an ecosystem with every decision and action interdependent and connected to the world. Our Corporate Social Responsibility Program supports The Conscious Alliance, a Native American Food Bank and specifically the Pine Ridge Reservation where: The unemployment rate is 85%, 63% of the population lives below the poverty line, The average annual household income is $3,700, Teen suicide rate is 150% higher than the US average, Only 1 in 4 households has a working toilet, Children on the reservation go hungry an average of once per week.

Describe your business.

CouponCabin is a leading online coupon hub offering more than 100,000 online coupon codes, printables, grocery coupons and more. Shoppers have saved nearly $250 million since 2003 and with the largest selection of coupons guaranteed to work, CouponCabin.com is the best place to start searching for savings. The average user saves $19 in just 80 seconds on the site. With customized email newsletters, browser savings alerts, new coupon alerts and more, shoppers receive handpicked deals based on their preferences.

How you have impacted your industry?

CouponCabin.com is a pioneer in the online coupon segment, based on its commitment to only posting valid coupon content for its users. Nothing is more frustrating than thinking you're getting a great deal, then finding out later that the coupon is invalid. While other sites post codes without testing them, CouponCabin has always engaged in rigorous testing of its coupons up to three times a week to ensure they work every time. In fact, many offers are guaranteed to work; if they don't, CouponCabin will buy shoppers dinner! More than 2,000 offers on the site are exclusive to CouponCabin, meaning you can’t find them anywhere else on the web.

How are you giving back to the community?

Through the CouponCabin charitable giving program, all employees align with a Chicagoland charity to donate time, skills and grants to the local community. Employees have partnered with a wide range of charities including The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Big Brothers Big Sisters Chicago, Special Olympics Chicago and Court Appointed Special Advocates, among others. CouponCabin employees engage in one-on-one tutoring and mentoring, serve as board members, volunteer their time and skills on a regular basis and spearhead additional fundraising initiatives. Charitable donations exceeded $750,000 in 2010 and are on track to exceed $1 million in 2011.