Photo: Facebook
Martin Paris’ dream of opening his own gourmet baked potato shop in Vernon is a lot closer to reality, now that he’s been named the winner in this year’s Enterprize challenge.
Paris got the news last week at a special awards event at Okanagan College, when judges picked his budding business, Jolly Good Spudz, for the challenge’s top prize.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Paris said minutes after learning the news. “I don’t know what avenues it will open so I’m quite excited.”
The Enterprize Challenge is an entrepreneurship competition, hosted by Community Futures, that gives new and start-up businesses a shot at $35,000 of cold, hard capital to help their business grow.
This year, Paris and 22 other competitors were assigned a mentor and asked to give a series of presentations to a panel of judges. The competition has been ongoing since last month, only wrapping up its grueling schedule with the announcement of the winners April 13.
With his win, Paris earned a prize package worth more than $19,000 that includes start-up capital, free business banking for a year, and a range of packages, including legal, accounting, marketing and web design, and graphics as well as a radio and print campaign.
Photo: Facebook
Paris says the support will bring Jolly Good Spudz, which is still in its embryonic stages, to downtown Vernon all the quicker.
Jolly Good Spudz, inspired by a similar shop Paris’ family had back in the U.K., will allow patrons walk alongside a glass counter, selecting locally-inspired toppings like pulled pork for their baked potato.
The other two finalists, sharing the remainder of the $35,000 in prizes, will also give Vernon a taste of their talents.
Third place winner Rebecca Hackman’s catering company Bites Creative brings gourmet, organic food sensitivity-minding dishes right to customers’ door (and she’ll even do the clean-up and decorating), while second place winner Juanita Miller, already based out of the Mustard Seed Clinic, helps women achieve health and beauty through her nutrition coaching, skin analysis, wellness education and grocery store tours.
Community Futures North Okanagan board member Michele Blais congratulated the winners, as well as all the contestants who participated in the competition’s biggest year yet.
“We applaud you for stepping up and taking this challenge. You’ve been given a tremendous opportunity to begin your journey, and you have a huge step up,” she said.
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