Following the Pitch Competition are (L to R) Dan Hollingsworth and Harleen Puaar from the SSMEDC, content winner Sarah Huckson, Angela Bruni from the SSMEDC, and keynote speaker Erin Bury.

Supplied by the Sault Economic Development Corporation…
Sault Ste. Marie, ON (October 20, 2017) – We have a winner! Sarah Huckson, owner of Scott Coffee Co., took home first place in a Business Pitch Competition this week hosted by the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation (SSMEDC).

She won the grand prize valued at $15,000, which includes a business grant through the Starter Company program, legal advisory services, accounting services, insurance services and one-year of office space at the SSMEDC’s Millworks Centre for Entrepreneurship. Ontario Wild received the $5,000-valued second-place prize. The two finalists competed in a pitch-off at the SSMEDC’s 2017 Bridges to Better Business event October 19. They were scored 50% by audience votes and 50% by an expert panel of judges.

Bridges to Better Business is the SSMEDC’s premier small business forum. Taking place at Quattro Hotel & Conference Centre, 250 people attended this year’s event. Held during BDC’s Small Business Week, the evening also featured a keynote presentation from tech commentator Erin Bury, who was named one of Marketing Magazine’s “Top 30 Under 30.”

The Pitch Competition was made possible with prize sponsors Laidlaw Paciocco Dumanski Spadafora & Johnson, Dawson & Keenan Insurance, Community First, BDO Canada, Algoma Insurance Brokers, TD Bank, KPMG, and Dumanski Office Interiors/Compass Imaging. This contest was also supported by the following community partners: Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre and its YouLaunch program, and Community Development Corporation of Sault Ste. Marie & Area.

Bridges to Better Business and the Pitch Competition were facilitated by the team at the SSMEDC’s Millworks Centre for Entrepreneurship. Located at the Machine Shop, the facility is home to the organization’s small business support staff, along with a business incubator that hosts seven companies.