HOPEWELL — $40,000 has been awarded to an ice cream and burger restaurant, a salon, a small-scale food production incubator, and a community-based theatre company. The winners will open brick-and-mortar businesses in the Hopewell Downtown Historic District with their portion of the monetary prize.

The City of Hopewell / Hopewell Downtown Partnership [HDP] was one of seven communities named "2022 Community Business Launch Grant Recipients." The grants aim to spur economic development and job creation through education and place-based strategies.

HDP dubbed its business pitch competition "Homegrown for Hopewell" and partnered with Virginia State University’s [VSU] Minority Small Business Launch Center to offer a free Business Boot Camp to participants. Upon completion of the Boot Camp, participants then chose whether or not to continue on for a chance to compete for gap-financing in front of a panel of judges.

Funding for the "Homegrown for Hopewell" program was made possible by a Community Business Launch grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The City of Hopewell contributed $10,000 to the total $40,000 prize package. Several property owners, like Legend Property Group, offered leasing incentives to winners of the pitch competition.

The prize package also includes a one-year membership to the Hopewell-Prince George Chamber of Commerce in addition to ongoing counseling and technical support from the HDP and other business organizations working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

HDP received 109 applications for the program. Approximately half of those applicants completed the virtual Business Bootcamp at VSU and nearly 30 chose to continue on to the Preliminary Pitch with advising from existing small business owners in the area and professional consultants.

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On May 26th, 12 finalists competed for funding at Guncotton Coffee in front of a panel of judges:

• Tanner Collins, Executive Director at BizWorks Enterprise Center

• Matt Ho, SBA Business Development Officer and Vice President for Primis Bank

• Toria Edmonds-Howell, Community Engagement Manager for Capital One’s 1717 Innovation Center and the founder and CEO of North 24th Home

• Becky McDonough, CEO of the Hopewell-Prince George Chamber of Commerce

• Micah White, Business Development Manager for the Metropolitan Business League

Of the twelve businesses that competed in the Final Pitch, four have been awarded funding.

Hopewell Downtown Historic District new businesses

Top three winners:

• City Point Ice Cream & Burgers – Owners Phillip and Lexi Hughes, Jonathan Montiel - $15K

• Studio One Salon – Owner Tina Pershing - $12K and lease incentives

• Brain to Box – Owner Floyd Simmons - $10K with a property stipulation

Runners up:

• Box 5 Cabaret Theatre – Owner, Tracey Lynn Frame - $3K

• Artisan Alley – Owner, Ann Audrey Eliades Kirk – eligible for funding if one of the top three winners does not meet property stipulations or deadlines in their contracts.

• Other runners-up were offered free vendor spaces at HDP events for the remainder of 2022 including Third Thursday Street Festivals and the Hopewell Farmers Market.

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“It’s been an honor working alongside these entrepreneurs,” Heather Lyne, Executive Director of HDP said. “'Homegrown for Hopewell' is proving that there is an immense amount of creative energy in the area as well as a need for additional programming and access to capital."

Lyne and the HDP Board hope to find innovative ways to build on the Community Business Launch grant with their partners and keep start-up resources flowing into the business community in Hopewell.

"We also want to offer participants who did not continue on to the final pitch one-on-one consultations to assist with their ongoing business journey,” Lyne said.

Additional community partners in the "Homegrown for Hopewell" initiative include the Minority Small Business Launch Center at Virginia State University, Longwood Small Business Development Center, the City Point Innovation Center in Petersburg operated by the Metropolitan Business League, Hopewell-Prince George Chamber Chamber of Commerce, the City of Hopewell, Virginia Community Capital and many other gracious volunteers, instructors, judges, small business owners and mentors.

HDP is a Main Street America Accredited Program for the tenth year in a row that, like the National Main Street Center, believes everyone deserves access to a vibrant neighborhood – a place that has a thriving local economy, is rich in character and features inviting public spaces that make residents and visitors feel that they belong.

"Our mission is to build a healthy, vibrant, and more prosperous central downtown district for the Hopewell community," Lyne said.

Visit hopewelldowntown.com to learn more about HDP, stay informed about Downtown Hopewell, and read the full details on "Homegrown for Hopewell."

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— Kristi K. Higgins aka The Social Butterfly columnist is the trending topics and food Q&A reporter at The Progress-Index. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Contact Kristi (she, her) at khiggins@progress-index.com, follow @KHiggins_PI on Twitter @socialbutterflykristi on Instagram.

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This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Hopewell business pitch competition: Four winners divvy up $40K