Procrastinating on Your BEA Application? Here's Some Tips & Tricks!

Last Updated 2/12/2026Posted in BEA Awards


Time is ticking! 

Applications for the Business Excellence Awards close next Friday, February 20 - and if you’ve been putting it off because you’re not sure you’re doing it “right,” this is your sign to dive in.

We’ve gathered insider tips and tricks straight from past judges to help you craft a clear, compelling, and standout application. Don’t let uncertainty hold you back - review the guidance below, polish your story, and submit with confidence!

Tips & Tricks for Submitting a Stellar Application 

  1.  Submit a completed, cohesive application, including:
    1. Ensure your answers are easy to understand by a judge who might not know anything about your business or industry.
    2. Make sure you fully and clearly answer the question – watch out for those multi-part questions!
    3. Proofreading and the use of spell check are strongly encouraged.
    4. Ensure your answers are complete thoughts (if you cut and paste, make sure your answer didn’t get cut off by the character limit).
  2. Provide unique answers – Ensure you are providing a unique answer to EACH question.  Even if you feel the question can best be answered by repeating information, challenge yourself to find a different, yet equally great response.
  3. Tell a story with your answers – The judges want to hear about real-life situations from your team, customers, and/or business that help to answer the question.  So, tell us a story!
  4. Be specific, NOT generic – Judges want specific, detailed answers to questions, NOT generic, high-level, or canned answers.  Facts and business-specific information to answer the questions are great.  The quantity of items in your answer isn’t always better than the quality and details of your answer.
  5. Bullet points can be your friend – For multi-part questions or answers where you are trying to communicate several different ideas, bullet points are GREAT – use them!

You’ve done the hard work -now tell your story and let it shine.

Applications close February 20. Don’t wait another day - hit submit and show Summit County what makes your business exceptional.

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