Deadline Nearing For Small Businesses To Enter $50K Hatch Detroit Contest
By Edward Cardenas
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) - Entrepreneurs looking to open their business in Detroit, Hamtramck or Highland Park have just a few more weeks to enter the Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest.
The deadline to enter the contest - which awards a $50,000 grant to open a brick and mortar store, along with package of services including legal, marketing and advertising, accounting, public relations and IT support from Hatch Detroit and its partners - is July 24.
"It's more than just the $50,000 prize," said Vittoria Katanski, executive director of Hatch Detroit. "Our top ten (semi-finalists) receive so much publicity throughout the contest, and they get so much support from the public, that they actually gain a lot of confidence in their product, in their idea and their passion grows."
This is the fifth year of the contest, which has led 12 businesses to open including Hugh, La Feria, Batch Brewing Company, Sister Pie, Detroit Institute of Bagels, Detroit Vegan Soul Busted in Detroit, and Bumbo's, which recently opened in Hamtramck
All applications must be submitted online by July 24, 2015. For complete submission guidelines and contest rules, visit www.hatchdetroit.com.
There have been 220 applications submitted thus far.
"We are blown away by the quality of applications," said Katanski. "There are more and more people that clearly want to open up a business in the city of Detroit. They are unique ideas, they are very well written, they are very well put together."
New this year, Opportunity Detroit has joined the contest as presenting sponsor and is helping launch a new website that will make the "user's experience better" and allow Hatch to highlight the contestants. Opportunity Detroit will also has the host the semi-finalist announcement party on Aug. 13 and the Hatch Off with the announcement of the winner Aug. 28.
"We are really encouraging people of all retail ideas to really feel like this contest is open to them," Katanski said.
These business ideas would include traditional retail concepts where "Detroiters can go shopping for the items right now they are going outside of the city for."
