Nearby Registry Receives Innovation Award

Two Concord residents recently received awards in the first statewide Social Business Innovation Challenge co-sponsored by University of New Hampshire.

The winners were announced last month at a conference at the school and featured prizes for both student leaders and businesses.

The winning student team, PLAN: The Post-Landfill Action Network, proposed a membership organization that provides student groups on college campuses with the tools to reduce the amount of reusable items that end up in landfills through self-sustaining move-out waste reduction programs, according to a press statement from UNH.

PLAN’s income is generated though membership fees, paid by campuses for access to planning assistance and discounted services.

Tyler Loranger of Concord, along with junior Sophie Rathjen of Sanbornton, and Alex Freid ’13 of Lee, were members of the student team.

Nearby Registry, an online business that allows customers to create a gift registry directed at local businesses and founded by Allison Grappone of Concord, won a third place prize in the community business category.

In a statement, Gov. Maggie Hassan commended the winners.

“Innovation is the engine of our economy both here in New Hampshire and across the country, and challenges like today’s are important for incentivizing students and members of the community to identify pressing social and/or environmental issues and to encourage innovative business-oriented approaches to find solutions,” she said.

The prizes were made possible by the Paul College of Business and Economics, the Bud Albin Fund, and donations to a crowd-funding campaign, according to UNH. All the finalists will receive scholarships to the next Stonyfield Entrepreneurship Institute courtesy of New Hampshire Social Innovation Challenge judge Gary Hirshberg, a Concord resident.