This Startup Wants to Spotlight a Small Business in Times Square. Will It Be Yours?

In celebration of Small Business Month, Shift browser is launching its new Pay It Forward program, giving one small business the chance of a lifetime: a billboard in New York City's Times Square.

The program is open to U.S. and Canadian businesses with fewer than 20 employees and that have been operating for less than seven years. The application process is simple and entirely online. Submissions are open from May 1 to May 23, 2025, and the small business recipient will be announced at the end of May.

The Pay It Forward initiative offers one small business a rare opportunity: prominent visibility in the heart of one of the world's most famous intersections. For many early-stage companies, advertising at this scale is out of reach, but Shift is stepping in to change that.

"We wanted to do something meaningful for Small Business Month," explains a Shift spokesperson. "The idea behind Pay It Forward is simple: shine a giant spotlight on a deserving small business that otherwise might not get this kind of exposure."

The selected business will receive a customized digital billboard placed directly in Times Square, an iconic location seen by hundreds of thousands daily."It's more than a billboard. It's a chance to put your business on the map—both literally and figuratively," the team adds.

While Small Business Month is celebrated each May, Shift believes support for entrepreneurs should be year-round. Small businesses make up 99 percent of all companies in the U.S., and over 33 million employ around 61 million people—nearly half of the nation's workforce.

"Small businesses are engines of innovation and heartbeats of their communities," insists the Shift team. "We understand what it means to start small because we've been there too. Shift has grown 10x since we launched, but we still remember what it was like to be a small team with a big idea."

Supporting small businesses benefits entrepreneurs—it boosts local economies, encourages community connection, and fuels job growth. When people shop locally, their money stays within the neighborhood, often supporting local vendors and creating meaningful jobs.

Eligible businesses can apply by visiting Shift's Pay It Forward program page. To qualify, businesses must:

• Be based in the U.S. or Canada
• Have fewer than 20 employees
• Be less than seven years old
• Submit by May 23, 2025

Shift is a powerful browser and productivity tool designed for multitaskers. The company believes in building tools—and now golden opportunities—that support the daily hustle of small business owners."We built Shift to help people stay focused, stay organized, and save time," adds the team. "Pay It Forward is our way of giving back to the kind of businesses we built Shift for."