Sundance Vacations Founders Honored with Inc. 500/5000 Award

Wilkes-Barre, PA (September 30, 2009) – Sundance Vacations Founders John and Tina Dowd attended a private dinner at the historic Capitol Hill Club in Washington DC on September 23, 2009. American Solutions for Winning the Future invited prominent business figures from across the nation to the event. Business leaders had the opportunity to discuss important issues facing their businesses and our nation. Awards for Entrepreneur of the Year were distributed.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich congratulated the group of business leaders on their contributions to the recovering economy. Gingrich also explained that there are over 50,000 elected positions in the United States. Business leaders who understand how to run efficient businesses and make smart decisions have a responsibility to make sure the brightest people are in those elected seats. Co-founder of Sundance Vacations, Tina Dowd was the only candidate for public office present, which clearly illustrated the need to engage and activate more successful entrepreneurs for public service. Tina is a candidate for the Lehighton Area School Board in Lehighton, Pa. She will be seated following the completion of the November elections.

Just two days later at the Inc. 500/5000 conference the Lehighton couple accepted an additional award. Sundance Vacations was named to the Inc 500/5000 list of fastest growing companies in America. Sundance Vacations placed 4718 on the 2009 list from Inc. magazine.

“At moments we felt miniscule and totally unworthy to walk onto the Inc. stage,” recalls Tina Dowd. “The fastest growing company had a growth rate of about 14,000%. But then we realized that we had something different to be proud of; we’ve been in business for 18 years. Although we didn’t experience crazy, explosive growth, we did benefit from managed, controlled and continuous growth over a very long period.”

“I don’t know if we’ll be a BIGGER company next year,” adds Sundance Vacations President John Dowd, “but we’ll definitely be BETTER.”

About Sundance Vacations:

Sundance Vacations is a national travel company that specializes in wholesale vacation accommodations. The company is headquartered in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and maintains offices in six other locations including; Rockaway, NJ; Princeton, NJ; King of

For Immediate Release

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Prussia, PA; Harrisburg, PA; Downers Grove, IL, and Brookfield, WI

Sundance Vacations is a highly rated member of the better business bureau, rated 12^th Best Place to Work in Pennsylvania by Best Companies Group, and 17^th Best Place to Work from the Best Places to Work Illinois program. The company was also honored as Sales Department of the Year in the 3^rd annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

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Tina Dowd

Co-Founder and Owner at Sundance Vacations

Tina Dowd co-founded Sundance Vacations in 1991 with her partner and husband John Dowd. In her 20 years with the company, Tina grew Sundance Vacations from a small start-up telemarketing office to a leading provider of affordable wholesale vacations, with over 700 employees and over 80,000 travelers nationwide. Tina’s award winning vision has guided the growth of the company straight to the Inc. 500/5000 Fastest Growing Companies List. Mrs. Dowd accepted a Stevie Award for Employer of the Year in 2010 for Women in Business and several awards from the Best Places to Work Group in more recent years.

Tina is a graduate from Kutztown University with a BS in Education. In addition to her change leadership Tina also enjoys serving as the Chief Editor of the company’s corporate newsletter, “The Owl”. She shares her extensive travel experience and advice on both the Sundance Vacations blog and Facebook on a regular basis.

Although her schedule is sometimes jam packed with family activities she still finds opportunities to volunteer her time and leadership to various charities. She currently serves as Vice President for Family Promise of Carbon County, an organization serving homeless children and their families in that area. She also chairs the Fund Development team for that organization and plans several major fundraising events each year. The Dowd family generously supports many charities including St. Vincent DePaul Soup kitchen, Wyoming Valley Children’s Association, Volunteers of America, the Wyoming Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross and many others. She is a member of the Luzerne Foundation Millennium Circle. Tina is also a former board member for the Northeast Pennsylvania Better Business Bureau and the Lehighton Area School District. Mrs. Dowd loves traveling, and her favorite vacation destination is where she and husband John Dowd spent their honeymoon, Maui, Hawaii.