Paper City Pitch Contest Announces its Winners
Our Local Entrepreneurs Shined with Variety of Creative Business Ideas
This year’s inaugural Paper City Pitch, held at Mast Landing Brewing in Westbrook on April 30th, featured six exciting Westbrook businesses. Each finalist shared their business ambitions and competed for prize money to fuel their expansion and innovation efforts. A distinguished panel of judges from Westbrook’s business community evaluated the presentations based on criteria encompassing business feasibility, creativity, and community impact.
Lilly Van Der Steenhoven of Bloom Consignment & Resale claimed the $5000 first place prize, while Joe and Sue Salisbury of The Daily Grind secured the $2000 second place award. A special “People’s Choice” prize worth $1000 was determined by an audience poll and awarded to Solange Kalala of Grace International Food Market.
We were delighted to witness the breadth of talent and creativity present in all the entrepreneurs. The contest offered a window into the diversity of enterprises in Westbrook which included a design company, Akakpo & Co. , an art upstart Gonzeaux Supply Co. , and the cat cafe Meow Lounge.
The pitch contest is part of our commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and supporting local businesses. It was funded through a grant from the Maine Development Foundation and the SBA.
