MILWAUKEE, WI--(Marketwired - November 26, 2013) - The Brass Rooster, a custom hat and accessory shop in Milwaukee, has been named the winner of U.S. Cellular's inaugural Spotlight on America's Backbone contest. The business, and its owners John and Kate McLaughlin, were chosen from nearly 1,400 entries across the country. They have won up to $25,000 in advertising; a year of wireless service with four iPad Airs and 2 iPhone 5s devices (valued up to $9,000); and $5,000 cash.

"It's fantastic to be able to get recognition for the hard work and commitment my wife and I put into our business," said John McLaughlin. "We're just blown away and are so lucky to be affiliated with a company like U.S. Cellular who supports small businesses. It's really important to us and we're thankful."

The Spotlight on America's Backbone contest, which ran from July 15-Sept. 1, was created to celebrate small businesses and demonstrate U.S. Cellular's commitment to helping them succeed. Small businesses were invited to apply for the contest on www.americasbackbone.com and answer questions about the best and hardest part of owning a small business and what the future of their business looks like.

"My husband and I are very pro-local business and abide by the 'made in America' mentality," said Kate McLaughlin. "We started our business during a time when the economy wasn't doing so well, but we weathered the storm by saving, cutting our budget and tracking where every last penny was spent. We threw everything on the line because we believed in what we were doing."

The Brass Rooster emerged as the winner after a review of all of the worthy applicants.

"At U.S. Cellular, we are proud to stand with small business, and we are excited that our first Spotlight on America's Backbone contest winner is from right here in Milwaukee," said Jeff Olson, director of business sales in Wisconsin. "The Brass Rooster is a fun and unique local business, and we hope winning this contest gives them a boost to meet their business goals."

A celebration for The Brass Rooster is being planned for January. For more information about U.S. Cellular's focus on small business, visit www.uscellular.com/business or www.americasbackbone.com.

About U.S. Cellular

U.S. Cellular rewards its customers with unmatched benefits and industry-leading innovations designed to elevate the customer experience. The Chicago-based carrier has a strong line-up of cutting-edge devices that are all backed by its high-speed network that has the highest call quality of any national carrier. Currently, 81 percent of customers have access to 4G LTE speeds and nearly 90 percent will have access by the end of 2013. U.S. Cellular was named a J.D. Power and Associates Customer Service Champion in 2012 for the second year in a row. To learn more about U.S. Cellular, visit one of its retail stores or uscellular.com. To get the latest news, promos and videos, connect with U.S. Cellular on Facebook.com/uscellular, Twitter.com/uscellular and YouTube.com/uscellularcorp.