GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., July 20 /PRNewswire/ — Stiles Machinery, a leading distributor of industrial equipment, software and services company, is holding a video contest through social media to determine the winner of a Weeke Vantech 480 CNC Router for one year.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100720/DE37798 )

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100720/DE37798 )

The Weeke Vantech 480 CNC Router is valued at over $69,000, and all freight, installation and training costs will be paid for by Stiles Machinery.

“We’re looking to help out a small or mid-sized woodworking shop that doesn’t have a similar machine already,” said Stephan Waltman, VP of Sales & Marketing at Stiles Machinery. “CNC routers can be a major change for a small business.  It’s a whole new approach to production in some cases, but it can open up a whole new world of possibilities for them.  We’ll be there to help them with any challenges they encounter.”

Similar contests have been successful in other industries, but Stiles Machinery is the first to use services like Twitter and YouTube to give away the use of a CNC router in the woodworking industry.

Interested businesses must create and submit a video to stilesmachinery.com/contest explaining or demonstrating why they deserve the router. Stiles is seeking videos of all types—the genre and content will be up to the entrants.

All submitted videos will be up for public voting through YouTube and promoted through other social-media sites. Voting will be open until October 1, 2010, at which time the entrants will be narrowed to the top ten. Stiles will evaluate each of the finalists and make a decision on the winner by October 29, 2010.

The winner of the contest will document the year with the machine through video blogs, which will be filmed with the video camera that’s also part of the prize package.

“We believe that the video blogs are what will be interesting for peers to watch on-line,” said Waltman. “A first-hand account of a business growing through this new technology and enjoying much higher productivity level should help other business owners when considering buying a CNC router.”

Stiles offers a Total Production Solutions approach, providing everything from equipment integration and financial services to education, service and parts. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Stiles has regional offices in High Point and Gastonia, North Carolina; Shelton, Connecticut; Irving, Texas; and Ontario, California.

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