GO! Local Business Plan Competition updated

Although all scales of businesses are welcome to apply, we are especially seeking entries from businesses that gross less than $250,000/year in revenues.

“For start-up businesses, any help in finding and accessing capital is needed,” says Nicole Bassett of new business [re]Make. She plans to submit her business plan to the competition because she could use some initial financing to help her prove her business model before she takes it to scale.

Her business concept is also based on sustainability, helping clothing manufacturers repair and resell used clothing to keep these materials out of landfills and develop additional markets for clothing producers.

A committee of local business experts will review all submitted business plans and choose up to five entries to present their idea in-person at the Gorge Owned Earth Day party to be held on April 23 at Hood River’s Pint Shack from 6-8 p.m.

Short pitches will be made to the audience of the business concept and efforts being made towards sustainability. Based on those live pitches, the audience will pick the top three candidates through a simple paper vote.

The winning candidates will then be eligible to apply for a business loan up to $5,000 through our partners at the Kiva Zip program, a not-for-profit micro enterprise lending program.

More information on the competition can be found at www.gorgeowned.org

Interested entrepreneurs and businesses should apply through our simple online form on our website. The deadline to apply is April 3, 2015. The top five candidates will be informed by April 13 if they have been selected to give a live 3-5 minute pitch during Earth Week. The Earth Week festivities will include the annual Tod J. LeFevre Sustainability Awards, GO! Local Business Plan pitches, Hands-to-Work projects, and the Community Pride cleanup in Klickitat County.

Frequently asked questions:

What do we mean by “sustainable business” for this business plan competition?

How does the Kiva Zip loan fund work?

Once an entrepreneur is endorsed by a local trustee organization like Gorge Owned, they are eligible to apply for a Kiva Zip business loan. Kiva looks more at character, reputation, relationships, and networks of the entrepreneur rather than things just like credit scores. Once accepted, the borrower invites friends, family, and their network to participating in their crowd-funding loan campaign on the Kiva Zip website. Lenders can lend as little as $5. Once a campaign gets to a certain threshold, Kiva Zip helps the borrower fully fund the loan. Loan payback can be as short as six months up to 24 months for a $5,000 loan. Once a borrower successfully pays back their first Kiva Zip loan, they are eligible to apply for a larger loan of $10,000. There is no interest charged on Kiva Zip loans. More information on Kiva zip loans can be found at www.borrowers.kivazip.org.

Who is Gorge Owned?

Since 2000, Earth Day in the Gorge has been hosted by Columbia Gorge Earth Center (CGEC), which merged with Gorge Owned (GO!) in 2013. GO! is a member-supported organization with a mission to strengthen connections between people, ecology and economy to build a healthy community in the Columbia Gorge. GO! programs include Gorge Earth Day, Gorge Green Drinks, Sense of Place Lecture Series, the Gorge Green Home Tour, GO! Local Month and the GO! Solar campaign. Learn More at GorgeOwned.org.