Casco Bay Creamery Takes The Cake in Entrepreneurial Competition
Casco Bay Creamery of Scarborough took the top award of $50,000 at Gorham Savings Bank’s LaunchPad competition on Tuesday. The company was one of five finalists who pitched their small business concepts and missions to a panel of independent judges and an all-time record large audience for the event.
The other four finalists were
Sidewalk Buttler, and
Vintage Maine Kitchen, all of whom delivered impressive and compelling presentatons, but ultimately lost to Casco Bay Creamery's exemplary business model, growth strategy, and ability to adapt to Maine's ever-changing marketplace. The panel was comprised of LaunchPad’s independent judges, entrepreneur and co-founder of Safe Handling Inc., Ford Reiche, Logically, formerly Winxnet, CEO and co-founder Chris Claudio, and Catherine Cloudman, shareholder and board member, Village Fertility Pharmacy, according to the press release.
“The quality of pitches this year was incredible. Congratulations to Casco Bay Creamery for emerging as the winner in front of this year’s record crowd,” said Steve deCastro, president and CEO of Gorham Savings Bank. “Our LaunchPad program reached a new milestone tonight, with more than $300,000 in grants going to Maine entrepreneurs since 2013. We’re fortunate to be in a position to help Casco Bay Creamery reach the next level.”
The recipient of the Emerging Idea Award category went to MyBodyModel, earning a $10,000 cash prize and $10,000 worth of marketing, business development, and public relations services from iBec Creative, Creative Imaging Group, Grove Marketing, Philbrook Public Relations, and Pro-voke.
Entrepreneurs in the making also kept audiences entertained during intermission. Middle school students from Falmouth, Saco and Windham who participate in LaunchPad Junior's entrepreneurial education program gave presentations on business concepts and took to the stage to answer drilling questions. The students’ hard work was rewarded with a $1,000 donation from Gorham Savings Bank to each school.