Awards were announced yesterday in the 2015 Windham Regional Business Planning Competition, a collaboration of Strolling of the Heifers and the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation. A total of $64,000 in prize funds were given out: $10,000 to each of four first-place category winners, $3,000 each to the four second-place category winners, and $1,000 each to the 12 runners-up. Funding for the competitition came from a grant from the Windham County Economic Development program (the “Vermont Yankee settlement” fund), the Vermont Community Foundation and the Windham Foundation.
Here are the winners and runners-up, listed by category:
Farm-Food Division — New Businesses
RUNNER UP
VT Dinners, L3C, Guilford
Nathaniel Brooks, Hans Estrin
VT Dinners makes chef-prepared meals made with healthy local
ingredients, which are sold frozen, ready to be thawed out and quickly and
conveniently reheated. Their goals are: Local food year round. Restaurant
quality at supermarket prices. The convenience of online ordering and a home
delivery option. Good food with less
work.
RUNNER-UP
Livewater Dairy, Putney
Taylor Acquaviva
Livewater Dairy will be a farmstead dairy processing venture
on Taylor Acquaviva’s family’s dairy farm, Livewater Farm in Westminster-West.
They are starting by producing primarily
grass fed butter and fresh mozzarella along with value added variations of
these products to be sold at local farmers markets, coops and an on site
farmstand.
RUNNER-UP
Tavernier Chocolates, Brattleboro
Dar Tavernier-Singer, John Singer
Tavernier Chocolates is a new small batch, handcrafted
chocolate company with an emphasis on fresh seasonal, local ingredients, and
the finest single origin Hawaiian, Central & South American sourced
chocolate, with a strong focus on the three P’s (people, planet & profit).
SECOND PLACE
West B Social, West Brattleboro
Jennifer Betit-Engel, Christian Engel
West B Social aims to bring more life into West Brattleboro
by opening a coffee and craft beer haven. They will offer coffees from around
the world, sandwiches and baked goods, hot pretzels, craft beer for carry out
and 33 beers on tap for growler fills, good vibes served daily.
FIRST PLACE
Riversong Farm, South Newfane
Juliette Carr, Henry Carr
A new, small, diversified farmstead in Newfane, offering
pastured heritage pork, fine charcuterie and breeding stock. Sustainability, land conservation and
community education are central to their vision.
Farm-Food Division — Existing Businesses
RUNNER-UP
True North Granola,
LLC, Brattleboro
Ingrid Chrisco, Franklin Chrisco
True North Granola is a specialty food business that is
creating granola, trail mixes, muesli and granola chocolate chip cookie mix,
and is working to build a broader regional presence.
RUNNER-UP
Finallie Ferments, West Townshend
Brittany Frost, Allison Dercoli
A craft food business specializing in the production of
small batch kim-chi, organized as a worker-owned and operated co-op.
RUNNER-UP
New Forest, LLC, Brattleboro
Ian Diamondstone
New Forest works with small farmer/producer groups to bring
certified organic ingredients to the international market. They aim to include
social justice in their bottom line and are working to develop two new
products.
SECOND PLACE
OWL Food, LLC, Brattleboro
Allison Wright
OWL Food produces gluten-free, dairy free, non GMO energy
bars handcrafted in Brattleboro.
FIRST PLACE
The Bunker Farm, Dummerston
Noah Hoskins, Helen O’Donnell, Jen O’Donnell and Mike
Euphrat
The Bunker Farm is a diversified family-run farm in
Dummerston, producing and selling pasture-raised poultry, beef, lamb and pork
directly to restaurants, and to families and individuals through a 12-month
CSA. They also produce and sell maple
syrup, winter greens, strawberries, asparagus, and heirloom and beefsteak
tomatoes, they operate a plant nursery and offer educational opportunities to
local schools and community groups.
General Business Division — New Businesses
RUNNER-UP
VTcast, Brattleboro
James Gelter, Jessica Gelter
VTcast will be a recording studio, website developer, and ad
sales rep for podcasts. VTcast will be a small studio designed for producing
Vermont-centric podcasts to help sell the Vermont brand to a national audience.
They will offer training on both the technical and artistic aspects of
podcasting. Best of all, VTcast will work to find sponsors and advertisers to
financially support you podcast.
RUNNER-UP
Homebody Guitars, Putney
Richard Struthers, Rory Struthers
Homebody Guitars is a father-and-son team developing a line
of electric guitars combining historic, iconic guitar body shapes with unique
design characteristics, utilizing home construction building scrap wood for
materials.
RUNNER-UP
Gail Friday, Wilmington
Gail Makuch
Gail Friday provides business support services assisting
entrepreneurs, mission-driven businesses and organizations with tools and
information to grow and succeed. Expertise includes data management and
visualization, surveys and evaluations, proofreading and other business support
services, timeline coaching and creative solutions.
SECOND PLACE
SnapGap, Brattleboro
Robert Fawley
SnapGap uses a patent-pending method and system for valve
adjustment clearance in certain internal combustion engines, and is developing
an internet-driven marketing plan to sell the system to individual users.
FIRST PLACE
Wheel Pad, Wilmington
Julie Lineberger, Joseph Cincotta, Riley Poor
A Wheel Pad is an eco-friendly, free-standing bedroom and
bathroom structure for newly wheelchair-bound people that can attach to an
existing home. The company’s goal is to
provide a universally accessible sleeping and bath area at a low cost. The
space includes a sleeping area, sitting area, and bathroom. Wheel Pad is a temporary movable space, like
a camper or RV, thus no need for permitting in most areas. Pre-built, Wheel Pad is delivered then
attached to an existing home on site.
General Business Division — Existing Businesses
RUNNER-UP
Artisan Web and Print, Brattleboro
Dawn Russell, Natalie Pelham
Artisan Web and Print is a web and graphic design studio
working with businesses, individuals, and organizations that promote
sustainability through environmental stewardship and social justice. Their work
for clients includes developing brand identity, graphic design solutions,
innovative and user-friendly mobile friendly websites, search engine optimization,
site management training, maintenance and hosting.
RUNNER-UP
Dynamic Organics, Putney
Greg DiCerbo, Andy Klaski, Morgan Casella
Dynamic Organics plans to demonstrate the feasibility of
small-scale, mobile Anaerobic Digestion
systems, which turn organic waste into renewable energy and revenue, and
to become an industry leader in AD systems for commercial food and beverage
operations, apartment buildings, hotels, and municipalities.
RUNNER-UP
SO Vermont Arts &
Living Magazine, Dummerston
Lynn Barrett
Southern Vermont Arts & Living is a quarterly magazine
chronicling the innovative culture and sophisticated country lifestyle of
Southern Vermont. It is the only glossy,
full-color publication in the region—which includes towns along New York and
New Hampshire’s southern border— covering the most engaging current work in the
art world and the creative lifestyle that accompanies it.
SECOND PLACE
Vintage Steele, LLC, Brattleboro
Josh Steele, Chris John
Vintage Steele takes vintage motorcycles and resurrects them.
They do this to make affordable transportation, which keeps metal out of
landfills, and uses less fossil fuel than automobiles. Vintage Steele also
repairs and maintains all forms of motorized bikes and rebuilds motorcycles
into customized machines, a huge part of the contemporary motorcycle culture.
FIRST PLACE
Good Body Products, Guilford
Chris Thomas, Trish Thomas
Good Body Products crafts therapeutic body care products in
small batches using 100 percent organic and locally-sourced ingredients whenever
possible. They are striving to achieve a true “farm-to-jar” business model,
cultivating and processing their own botanicals for use in their healing
products.
