BPC

2008 Competition Winners

2008-03-18T13:05:13Z

Existing Business Grand Prize

For the "Existing Business" category, the $20,000 Grand Prize was awarded to Linda and Tom Diak (pictured here with their sons Christopher and Nicholas), the owners of Grafton Fibers, [http://www.graftonfibers.com/] a Saxtons River company that produces Vermont-crafted needle-art tools and fibers. Founded in 2001, Grafton Fibers will be using the prize money to acquire additional equipment and tooling needed to brand their needles, improve packaging, expand production capabilities, and create new employee positions..

New Business Grand Prize

For the "New Business" category, the $10,000 Grand Prize was awarded to Ed Metcalfe, the owner of Vermont Distillers, a micro-distillery in Marlboro that will be manufacturing and selling premium Vermont-based liquors and liqueurs. His prize money will go toward start-up costs and the initial purchase of equipment.

Existing Business Finalist Prizes

The five finalist prizes of $1,000 each were presented to:

(1) Big Wally's Adhesives [http://plastermagic.com/], owned by Rory Brennan and Laurie Klenkel of Brattleboro, to create and manufacture an innovative plaster repair product;

(2) Concrete Detail [http://www.concretedetail.com/], owned by Richard Holschuh of Brattleboro, to produce custom artisan concrete countertops, sinks, and other architectural surfaces for homes and businesses;

(3) Ironwood Brand, owned by Eli Gould of West Brattleboro (pictured here with his wife Jessica and their children), to offer construction management and custom wood products manufacturing;

(4) Moscode, Inc. [http://www.moscode.com/], owned by Gage Rommel and George Kaye of Brattleboro, to produce high-end audio amplifiers; and

(5) True Vector Technologies, [http://www.truevectortech.com/] owned by Sandy Fitchet and Mark Spivak of Wilmington, to provide high-end data visualization and interactive mapping tools to businesses.

New Business Finalist Prizes

Five finalist prizes of $1,000 each were presented to:

(1) AMPress [http://www.archermayor.com/], owned by Archer Mayor of Newfane (pictured here with his colleague Elaine Sopchak), to publish his out-of-print mystery novels featuring the fictional Brattleboro Detective Joe Gunther

(2) EcoFuels, owned by Owen Dodge and Tad Montgomery of Brattleboro, to produce and distribute biofuel as a cheaper environmental alternative to petroleum for homes, farms, institutions and industry;

(3) The Timber-Frame Shop, owned by Monica MacNeille of Brattleboro, to offer custom timber-framing, timber-framing workshops, and Gothic Revival and Art Noveau-inspired garden structures;

(4) Vermont Stone Composite, owned by Peter Welch and Tyler Maas of Brattleboro, to produce custom-built Vermont stone insulated masonry panels, using a patent-pending system; and

(5) Windham Country Magazine, owned by Lynn Barrett of Dummerston Center, to publish a quarterly magazine promoting the people and life in Windham County.

2007 Competition Winners

2007-11-03T15:53:21Z

Existing Business Grand Prize

For the "Existing Business" category, the $20,000 Grand Prize was awarded to Fulcrum Arts, owned by Natalie Blake and Randi Solin of Brattleboro (pictured here with BDCC Board member Dart Everett), to integrate and extend their two successful crafts businesses with a shared building, public demonstration area, gallery, and teaching facility.

Start-Up Business Grand Prize

For the "Start-Up Business" category, the $10,000 Grand Prize was awarded to Engineered Stone Designs, owned by Matthew Murano of Wilmington (pictured here with Governor Jim Douglas), to produce, sell, and install manufactured stone.

Existing Business Runner-up Prize

The three runner-up prizes of $2,000 each were presented to (l to r): Moscode, Inc., owned by Gage Rommel and George Kaye of Brattleboro, for product development for their high-end audio manufacturing company; Putney Mountain Winery, owned by Kate and Charles Dodge of Putney (pictured here with their daughter), for the development of an Internet sales channel for their products; and High Meadows Farm, owned by Lisa and Howard Prussack of Westminster West, for the development of high-tunnel raspberry farming.

Existing Business Finalist Prize

The three finalist prizes of $1,000 each were presented to (l to r): Cold Rain Technologies, owned by Robert Bruen of Wilmington, for producing, developing, and marketing KnujOn, a system developed by his son Garth Bruen for shutting down junk e-mail and e-fraud websites; Purple Chef, owned by Sharon Myers of Brattleboro, for production of specialty food products such as artisan chutneys and marmalades; and SRI World Group, owned by Jay Falk of Brattleboro, for the development of a Web-based tool for reporting environmental, social, and corporate governance information to stakeholders.

Start-Up Business Runner-up Prizes

The three runner-up prizes of $2,000 each were presented to (l to r): Advanced Support Systems, owned by Bill Hickok of Brattleboro, to manufacture and sell proprietary design equipment for hunters and fishermen; Mobile Meat Makers, owned by Eliot G. Morse of Putney (not pictured), for a mobile poultry slaughter and processing facility; and Vermont Distillers, owned by Ed Metcalfe of Whitingham, to manufacture and sell Vermont-based liquors and liqueurs.

Start-Up Business Finalist Prizes

The two finalist prizes of $1,000 each were presented to: Putney Design, owned by Colin Butler of Putney, to design and manufacture custom entrance gates; and SnapCabin, owned by Joseph Checco of South Londonderry, to manufacture and sell a unique system of housing composed of pre-fab rooms and connectors, delivered by flat bed.

Honorable Mention Prize

In addition, a special Honorable Mention prize of $250 was awarded to 17-year-old Tyler Smith, a student at the Windham Regional Career Center, for his Independent Lawn Care business plan.

2006 Competition Winners

2006-11-17T17:04:35Z

The top-prize winner in the 2006 Business Plan Competition was Nimble Arts Trapeze and Circus School.

Based at Cotton Mill Hill, Nimble Arts was founded in 2003 by twin sisters Serenity Smith Forchion and Elsie Smith. They teach acrobatics, trapeze, and juggling to adults and children as young as 18 months.

“Winning the competition had an invigorating effect on my sister and me," says Serenity. "We felt spurred into moving forward with many plans and dreams we had for our business, and certainly the influx of cash helped us move ahead with those goals."

“Another great benefit of the Business Plan Competition was the exposure we got in the community,” adds Elsie Smith. “It has been wonderful to be stopped by various people in the community who know about our work from the publicity derived from the competition. This, we hope, will help us in our next phase of expansion when we move to our downtown location and begin more official collaborations with other local businesses like the New England Youth Theater, the Brattleboro Music Center, and the Brattleboro School of Dance. It has been great to become a recognized part of the community.”

According to Serenity, “Business is going very well. Our performing company is booking triple the events we did last year, our equipment sales have doubled, and our workshops and classes have also grown at the rate planned.”

The six runners-up in the 2006 competition were:

Against the Grain, a food manufacturing business located at BDCC’s Book Press Business Park that is owned by Tom and Nancy Cain. They bake and freeze gluten-free bread for commercial and wholesale distribution.

The Business Plan Competition "is one of the most creative ways to encourage new business development that I have heard of," says Nancy Cain, co-owner with her husband Tom of Against The Grain Gourmet. "We were a start-up business at the time of last year's competition. Since then, we have built a 5,000-square-foot, dedicated gluten-free baking facility [in the old Book Press building in Brattleboro]. We began shipping to our distributor in late December 2006. Our gluten-free bread products have been received extremely well, and it appears that we are on target to double our first-year expectations for number of units sold." (Their website can be found at www.againstthegraingourmet.com.)

Children’s Music Hall of Fame, a website business dedicated to quality children’s music, developed by musician and educator Bill Shontz of Putney.

According to Bill, participating in the competition was very helpful. “Lots of people came up to me to say they heard I was a finalist, to ask me about the competition, and to congratulate me,” says Shontz. “The experience was interesting in that it forced me to once again look at my business proposal to make sure that I was organized. I already knew about the available resources, like the SBDC, and have worked with them. But other new small businesses may not realize what’s available. They provide you with the ability to look at your business not just from the inspirational, creative, or artistic view, but from the nuts-and-bolts view of how will this business be viable.”

Ironwood Brand, a West Brattleboro sawmill business owned and operated by Eli Gould, offering advanced design work using native lumber.

"It was fun how the format [of the Business Plan Competition] added deadlines and friendly competition to what could otherwise be a much more solitary process," says Eli. "It really got me to sit down and focus. It was a lot of work in a short time. It's nice to look back on that work, now, though."

OK Tools, a Saxtons River company founded by Fred Bullock and Robert Morris to sell and service tools and radius grinders for the machine tool industry.

Solinglass, a glass-blowing studio owned by nationally recognized artist Randi Solin and located at BDCC’s Cotton Mill.

Reflecting back on her participation in the first annual Business Plan Competition, Randi says, “The impact was pretty huge, I must say. Because of my proposal, I have been brought into other projects and I am currently in negotians with the New England Youth Theatre to proceed with my business plan idea of maybe buying a building in town and seeing my business model come to fruition.”

Vermont Woods Studio, a furniture making company that uses sustainable solid hardwoods and certified smartwoods. Ken and Peggy Farabaugh of Vernon own and operate the company.

According to Peggy Farabaugh of Vermont Woods Studios, a year-old cooperative of local woodworkers, "Our new business wouldn't even have materialized beyond ideas in my head if not for the Business Plan Competition. It motivated me." Not only did it motivate Peggy, it encouraged her to raise the bar and think more broadly. Peggy's husband Ken is a woodworker and they thought it would be nice to create a business to sell some of his work. "BDCC challenged us to look beyond ourselves and our own needs," she said. "They encouraged us to craft the business for the community of woodworkers around us. I would never have thought of structuring the business for this wider scope. It has meant all the difference in the world."

Vermont Woods Studios has grown over its first year to include nearly 20 local woodworkers as members. The collaborative recently launched what they call, "the nation's first online furniture gallery for fine exclusive, elegant, handcrafted, museum quality, luxury eco furniture." The website can be found at http://www.vermontwoods.com/. "It was eye-opening" to participate in the Business Plan Competition, says Farabaugh. "BDCC added a lot more realism to our plan. I didn't have the depth of expertise for financial planning. They offer expertise you'd have to pay a lot of money for usually. And they don't laugh at your idea to start a new business. They are supportive and encouraging. I couldn't have done it without them."