Voting ends Friday for Biz Builder People’s Choice competition
Awards to be presented at Nov. 13 graduation ceremony
Cedartown Biz Builder participants have just a couple of days remaining to get voters to go online and cast their ballots for the winner of the People’s Choice Award.
The award, along with the winner of the Shark Tank-style competition held at the Cedartown Welcome Center on Oct. 28, will be announced on Nov. 13 at the Biz Builder program’s graduation ceremony.
Participants in the first round of the program who joined in the “Shark Tank” style competition presented business ideas ranging from a hostel for travelers on the Silver Comet Trail to a one-stop party location that can also double as a Pre-K learning center when party business is slow.
Five judges graded each presentation on a 48-point scale in various areas, using the same criteria the students were graded on for their plans in the classroom by Georgia Northwestern Technical College instructors. Those judges who were on the panel included the Development Authority of Polk County CEO Rachel Rowell, local attorney George Mundy, local residents Britt Madden Sr. and Everett Willis and Richard Montanero, the area director for the Small Business Development Center.
Britt Madden Jr., the program’s organizer, said students worked hard since participants started classes in May to learn and get their business plans together to make their ideas happen.
How far those ideas have already gone have depended entirely upon the business plan in place.
Take Jose Iglesias, who already runs Taxes de America in Cedartown, and his plan to increase his business with the likely coming influx of new customers who are looking to take advantage of becoming legal citizens of the United States.
He points to a growing trend for immigration reform in America as an indicator that providing tax services for those who are looking to become legal will bring a big boost to his already thriving business.
“This is really something that is going to make tax preparation services in high demand in our community,” he said.
Sandra Sherfield’s restaurant, Taste of Grandma’s Cooking, is already up and running but still struggling to get its feet on the ground. She said her and her partner’s idea of opening Taste of Grandma’s Cooking, was to keep family tradition of a love of cooking and feeding others alive.
“There are a variety of restaurants here in Cedartown, but none of them provides home cooked meals like we do,” she said. “Just about everything we use is fresh, and we try to stay away from frozen foods whenever possible.”
Other ideas remain in the ether for the moment. Carla Kinslow’s idea to bring a hostel to the upstairs of the former Moore’s location in downtown Cedartown is still in the planning stages, she said, but talks are already in the works.
Renovations would be required to provide 16 beds and enough bathroom facilities to accommodate the number of guests Kinslow wants to bring into downtown Cedartown on a nightly basis.
She also is working to find a partner who would be willing to open a restaurant in the downstairs space.
Grant Glanton also has some financing to secure to start his business, a food truck called Freshy Fresh, which would serve local industrial parks with food options and tar- get nighttime crowds in the area through social media.
“I love food, I have a real passion for it,” he said. “It’s my dream to bring that love to other people.”
One way teams with ideas of serving food to local residents for their business plans made sure each judge sampled their wares before the night was over. Glanton showed off his cooking skills with freshly made tacos, while Sherfield brought a sample of their food.
Madden said the night turned out exactly as he hoped, with the program’s students bringing real business ideas to the table to help grow the local economy.
“I think we have everything from retail stores to service businesses that could employ upwards of 20 to 30 people when they get it started like they want, and that to me would be a great suc- cess,” he said.
Madden said more than 500 votes have been cast so far in the People’s Choice award as of the end of October, and hoped for more than a 1,000 votes on the business ideas before Friday.
Those interested in seeing the different presentations can go online to cedartowngeorgia.gov and click on the Youtube link to find the videos to watch online.
The winners of the People’s Choice Award and the Judge’s Choice award will each take home $1,000 each as seed money for their business. The Biz Builder Program is also accepting donations online through Indiegogo to help provide future opportunities for more Biz Buidler students in next year’s program.
Visit http:// igg. me/ at/2014cbb to make a donation.