Greetings!   Entrepreneurs Just Do It!, Jigsaw's third business plan competition held yesterday at the Ketchum Community Library, was a SMASHING SUCCESS.  Six finalists presented their businesses visually and verbally in a tight time frame (seven minutes), took questions from the judges and the audience (10 minutes), and then turned the podium over to the next business for its presentation.

The "winner" of the $1,500 prize was It Takes a Village Foods, owned and operated by Hailey resident, Sheila Plowman.  The level of maturity Sheila has achieved with her business of healthy, delicious snacks in a short time, including reaching a market of 53 stores in 12 western states, 100% customer retention, a presence in Boise's Whole Foods store, and her well-developed plan for expansion over the next few years, was exemplary. 

Sheila and her compatriot entrepreneurs impressed the audience of roughly 60 people  beyond their wildest expectations. Seriously. I was blown away, not having seen the final presentations, complete with dynamic powerpoint and videos, until the actual competition. The other finalists, BuckSnort Beverage, Drain Smart, Game Face Gear, Dignified Designs, and Killer Instinct did themselves proud, too, such that the judges had to deliberate carefully in choosing a winner. They considered many factors, taking time to discuss each business' strengths and areas for improvement as markers for the business' overall viability at this point in time.

Each business entrepreneur will receive written feedback based on the judges' comments and have made contacts with potential mentors, and even potential funding sources. It is worth pointing out the deep experience of the judges who led the praise for the finalists they evaluated. Many thanks to these individuals who graciously and enthusiastically donated their time and expertise:

Mark Solon - Venture capital investor, co-founder of Boise's Highway 12, and a mentor at TechStars in Boulder, a top-level mentorship-driven startup investment program.

Rick LeFaivre - Computer scientist, professor, and venture investor who has worked as an R&D executive with Apple, Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems, and Tektronix. 

Mitch Hollins - Attorney, business executive, LEED Accredited Professional, and lecturer in entrepreneurship at the Booth Business School and Kellogg School of Management.

Rebekah Helzel - Financial analyst, founder of three socially responsible ventures (including ARCH), and Vice President at Cutting Edge Capital which helps businesses with crowdfunding.

Garrett Goldberg - Founder and manager of GSquare Companies as well as an investor and screening Coimmittee Chair of the Boise Angel Fund and Treasure Valley Angel Fund.

Many thanks as well to our local entrepreneur sponsors: Maestro Technology Solutions, Orflo, Power Engineers, QuickEdit (my emerging business), and Redfish Technology.

And, last but not least, high praise and deep thanks to the Ketchum Community Library for its community ethic, its excellent staff, and its quality facilities.

Next week, I'll offer a brief summary of Mark Solon's talk at the Library.  He managed to combine great story-telling with stimulating, significant comments and examples of how to build an entrepreneurship culture in a community.  We all enjoyed his observations, his encouragement, his informative experience, and his honesty.  More to come then about how we might address building our own entrepreneurship culture.