Black-Owned Business Contest Terms & Conditions

1. Sponsor

The sponsor is William Mattar, P.C. (“Sponsor,” “William Mattar law offices” or the “Firm,”), 6720 Main Street Suite 100, Williamsville, NY 14221. Any inquiries or questions regarding this matter may be sent by email to julieb@williammattar.com or by regular mail to William Mattar, P.C., 6720 Main Street, Suite 100, Williamsville, New York 14221. Sponsor cannot guarantee that inquiries or questions will be answered before the end of the nomination or voting period.

2. Eligibility

1. You must be a resident of New York State and have a minimum age of 18 to nominate or vote in this contest.
2. This contest was created to celebrate Black-owned businesses in honor of February being recognized as Black History Month. For purposes of these Terms and Conditions, business ownership is based on definitions from the United States Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners. Such information is available at the following link: https://www.census.gov/econ/overview/mu0200.html.  Only businesses that would qualify as having “Black or African American” ownership are eligible for nomination and prizes.
3. Only businesses owned and operated in New York State are eligible to be nominated.
4. Only businesses that, upon nomination, confirm in writing via email that they are eligible for this contest, would like to participate, and agree to these Terms and Conditions are eligible to receive a prize.
5. If you are an employee or staff member of William Mattar, P.C., you are not eligible to submit a nomination or voting entry or otherwise participate. This includes summer, part-time, full-time, and temporary staff members. Family members of employees, including siblings, parents, significant others, children, grandchildren, or grandparents, are also not eligible to submit a nomination or voting entry or otherwise participate.
6. If you are a lawyer or an employee or staff member of any law firm, you are not eligible to submit a nomination or voting entry or otherwise participate. This includes summer, part-time, full-time, and temporary staff members. Family members of lawyers or employees of law firms, including siblings, parents, significant others, children, grandchildren, or grandparents, are also not eligible to submit a nomination or voting entry or otherwise participate.

3. Entering

1. No purchase is necessary to submit a nomination or voting entry or receive a prize.
2. This contest was created to celebrate Black-owned businesses in honor of February being recognized as Black History Month.
3. Those who submit nomination entries during the nomination period may nominate only one (1) business. Only one (1) nomination entry per person and/or per email address.
4. Those who cast votes during the voting period may vote for only one (1) business. Only one (1) vote per person and/or per email address.
5. If you are the owner of an eligible business, you may nominate your own business during the nomination period. You are also permitted to submit one (1) vote for your business during the voting period.
6. The nomination period begins on February 3, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. EST and ends on February 20, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. EST. All business nominations must be submitted through www.williammattar.com. A nomination entry will require: The full name of the individual submitting the entry, name of the business nominated, as well as that business’s website, email address, business address, and phone number. If the individual submitting the entry is an owner of the business nominated, that individual must also indicate that the business is eligible based on these Terms and Conditions.
7. To ensure compliance with these Terms and Conditions, Sponsor reserves the right to reject or remove any nomination entries for any reason. Only one submission per person/email address will be accepted.
8. Upon receipt of a nomination entry, before the beginning of the voting period, Sponsor will contact nominated businesses via email to confirm their eligibility for this contest, the accuracy of information submitted with the nomination entry, and the business’s interest and desire to participate in this contest and appear on the ballot. Sponsor cannot guarantee that it will successfully contact all nominated businesses before the beginning of the voting period. Only those nominated businesses which confirm in writing, via email, before the beginning of the voting period, that they agree to these Terms and Conditions and would like to participate in this contest will be listed on the ballot during the voting period. An employee of a business who corresponds, via phone or email, with Sponsor on behalf of a business will be presumed to have actual authority to do so. A business which indicates its desire to participate before the voting period, but thereafter determines it would no longer like to be on the ballot, can request that its name be removed from the ballot at any time by sending an email to julieb@williammattar.com. If possible, the email should be sent in the same email thread where the business had previously indicated its intention to participate.
9. The voting period opens to the public on February 24, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. EST and ends on March 10, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. EST. To cast a vote for one of the businesses on the ballot, the voting entrant must provide their full name and email address.
10. All nomination entries and voting entries must be submitted online, through williammattar.com. Sponsor is not responsible for any technical difficulty entrants face. Such difficulties may include, but are not limited to, busy signals, overload on website, problems, and technical/electronic malfunctions. Sponsor is also not responsible for entrant(s) having difficulties sending/receiving emails or phone calls or accessing the Firm’s website or its social media accounts. Information submitted in nomination and voting entries become the property of Sponsor. Sponsor will not accept entries through social media, mail, email, fax, telephone, or in person. Only one entry per person, per email address.
11. If you enter one contest, sweepstakes, campaign, program, or giveaway sponsored by Sponsor you ARE NOT automatically entered into all of them. You must register, with your information, for each contest, sweepstakes, campaign, program, or giveaway you wish to enter. Please note there may be more than one contest or program taking place at any given time.
12. By submitting information through a nomination or voting entry, you agree to receive future communications from William Mattar, P.C.  By entering information in the registration form and submitting that form, you agree to receive promotional, advertising, and/or marketing materials including emails and text messages/SMS from William Mattar, P.C. You can opt out of receiving promotional, advertising, and/or marketing materials, including emails and text messages/SMS, at any time by emailing marketing@mattar.com and by typing “Opt Out” in the email subject line. Please also provide your name and email address in the body of the email when requesting to opt out. All entrants must also agree to terms of the Privacy Statement contained on Firm’s website, available at: https://williammattar.com/disclaimer/.

  4. Redemption & Winning

1. One (1) grand prize winner will be announced on or around March 13, 2023.
2. GRAND PRIZE: The eligible business that receives the most votes during the voting period will be considered the grand prize winner. The grand prize winner will receive $4,444.00 from William Mattar, P.C. to invest into their business.
3. RUNNER UP PRIZE: The businesses which receive the second (2nd) highest number of votes during the voting period will be considered the runner-up. Runner-up will receive $444.00 to invest into their businesses.
4. Sponsor is not responsible for attempting to contact the winner(s) more than once. Sponsor will be required to call the winner(s) at the phone numbers confirmed in writing to be accurate and send an email message to the email address confirmed in writing to be accurate. Should a winner not respond within five days, Sponsor has no further obligation to that winner, though sponsor may exercise its discretion to continue attempts to contact winner(s). Should a winner fail to respond, the business with the next highest number of votes may then be considered a winner. There can be no more than two winners (One grand prize, and one runner-up prize).
5. Winner(s) may not be allowed to pick up their prize until their eligibility to participate has been confirmed and the required paperwork has been completed. Sponsor may take steps to confirm eligibility but is not required to do so.
6. Those who win and claim prizes are held responsible for paying all taxes if applicable (including but not limited to federal, state, county, and local taxes). Taxes may be based on prize value. Grand Prize Winner will be asked to complete and return a W-9 form before receiving the prize.
7. Sponsor may put an expiration date on any/all prizes.
8. After a prize is claimed or retrieved by a winner, William Mattar, P.C. is not responsible for the reimbursement or replacement of any prize.
9. By entering this promotion, entrants agree to be bound by these rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final. William Mattar, P.C. has no responsibility for losses, injuries, or damages caused by accepting these terms and conditions and entering programs, contests, and giveaways. Terms and agreements are subject to change. Should they change, entrants still agree to alterations. It is entrant’s responsibility to check the terms and agreements on a regular basis to make sure they are aware of any modifications and still agree to follow such revised terms. An entrant who deems a revised term unacceptable can withdraw participation at any time by sending an email to julieb@williammattar.com. Sponsor reserves the right to delete, alter, or add terms, conditions, and rules.
10. William Mattar, P.C. shall not be held responsible or liable should there be a printing, publishing, transmission, communication error or other technical error as it relates to the contest, campaign, program, or giveaway, including but not limited to the type or number of prizes. All federal, state, and local laws apply. Sponsor and the employees, officers, directors, shareholders, agents, and representatives of Sponsor, affiliates, subsidiaries, and advertising, promotion and legal advisors are not responsible for and shall not be liable for: (i) late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, illegible, or unintelligible entries; (ii) telephone, electronic, hardware, or software program, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures, or difficulties; (iii) errors in transmission; (iv) any condition caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor that may cause the contest or promotion to be disrupted or corrupted; (v) any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind caused by any prize or resulting from acceptance, possession, or use of a prize, or from participation in the contest or promotion; or (vi) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the contest or promotion. Entrants shall indemnify and defend Sponsor and its managers, officers, directors, employees, agents, successors and assigns against any and all losses, damages, liabilities, deficiencies, claims, actions, judgements, settlements, interests, awards, penalties, fines, costs, expenses of whatever kind, including professional and attorney fees arising out of any claim alleging any breach or non-fulfillment of any representation warranty or covenant, negligence, omission, injury, bodily injury, death, reckless or willful misconduct, or failure to comply with any law, rule, regulation or code relating to the contest or promotion.
11. Sponsor has the right to cancel or abandon the contest, campaign, program, promotion, or giveaway at any time or the right to do anything it chooses within the bounds of the law to either remedy a given error, problem, situation or to discontinue. Entrants who provide false, misleading, or untruthful information will not be considered a valid entrant and will be excluded. Firm reserves the right to disqualify and exclude any entrant who, in its sole suspicion, tampers with the entry process, intentionally submits more than a single entry, violates Terms and Conditions, or acts in a deceptive or disruptive manner. Examples of deceptive or disruptive actions include, but are not limited to, auto-generated entry or registration by macro, script, or other means, as well as efforts by a person to enter more than once. Other examples include, but are not limited to, inputting fictitious information, or using a “bot” or any automated process of any kind to submit more than one entry. Such actions or conduct will be deemed a violation of Terms and Conditions. Firm will exercise reasonable diligence to identify entrants who provide false, misleading, or untruthful information or are otherwise invalid but cannot guarantee that all such entrants will be identified, and the determinations of Firm will be final.
12. William Mattar, P.C.’s maximum liability for any giveaway, campaign, or contest shall be the lesser of prize(s) value or Fifty dollars ($50.00).