StartRight! 2014 Business Plan Competition Winners Announced

The Maryland Women’s Business Center and Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI) announced the winners of the 11th annual StartRight! Women’s Business Plan Competition on August 28 at The Power Conference at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.

The annual competition is supported with $13,500 in cash prizes provided by sponsors Shulman Rogers; Capital Business; Morgan Stanley; ActionCoach and Jeff Miller Consulting Alliance; Tribridge Partners; Bio Maryland; Intelligent Office; the Montgomery County Business Innovation Network; and Multi Platform Media.

This year’s $5,000 Grand Prize was awarded to ICOW, LLC founded by CEO Haiwen Ding. ICOW is a direct, online channel to help Chinese students apply for higher education in the U.S. via a web application that helps Chinese students create English resumes. ICOW was selected from more than 40 business plans reviewed by a panel of more than 30 volunteer judges. “This is the second time I’ve entered the competition,” said Haiwen. She added “I took the feedback the judges gave me last time and applied it. I wanted to show them I had the dedication and passion to win.”

“This year was very difficult because we had high quality plans representing a variety of industries including food, government contracting, apparel, technology, retail, health and wellness, and consulting,” noted Lori Gillen, Managing Director of The Maryland Women’s Business Center. She added, “We are so grateful for the support of our sponsors and team of volunteer judges who help make StartRight! an exciting business development program for women entrepreneurs in our community.”

This year’s winner of the “Pick The Pitch” category was Dance 4 Life & Health, owned by Megan Riggs. Dance 4 Life & Health offers exercise classes to senior citizens and children to improve and maintain their fitness levels while providing a comfortable and welcoming environment for participants. With support from media sponsor, Capital Business, elevator pitches from the 8 finalists were filmed and posted on the Washington Post /Capital Business website and the public was invited to vote for their favorites. The Pitch Prize is one year of complimentary services from Intelligent Office valued at over $4000.

There were three second place prizes awarded. Cash prizes were awarded to Megan Riggs of Dance 4 Life and Health, Brenda Stephens of Sunflower Health and Wellness, and Joy Andrews, Rachel Brumberger and Samantha Dublin of Third Space Wellness. Sunflower Health and Wellness is an integrated medical practice that combines traditional medical modalities with complementary alternative therapy including massage therapy, reflexology, and aroma therapy. Third Space Wellness in downtown Silver Spring, will offer yoga, acupuncture. massage and other therapies in a community-based environment. Said co-owner Rachel Brumberger, “There is a lot of heart coming from the team that puts this competition together. For us, it’s not about the win. It’s about engaging in the process of examining all angles of your business, the access to resources for growing your business, and the exposure we’ve received from being a part of it.”

An Honorable Mention was awarded to Anna Kojzar and Tania Cruz of The Poshpacker Corporation. In addition to cash prizes donated by sponsors, all of this year’s winners receive a one-year membership as a virtual tenant in the Montgomery County Business Innovation Network.

“We’re thrilled that this year we saw, once again, strong women-owned businesses looking to make an impact on our regional economy. This business plan competition is a great way to highlight the work and effort that women entrepreneurs are making in developing their businesses“, said Laurie Boyer, Executive Director of REDI.