Biz Plan Competition

2004 Winners

Independent Means and DollarDiva are pleased to announce the winners of the 2004 National Business Plan Competition.

And the winners are...

SweetLips, 15-yr old Molly Dunkle of Ft. Collins, CO

SweetLips is an all-natural, homemade lip balm targeted both at teens, who love lip balms and glosses, and adults, concerned about keeping their lips moist.  Molly hopes to distribute her lip balms through local, specialty stores in Old Town, Ft. Collins and, eventually, to earn enough money through product sales to visit friends in Australia.

Hamilton Art Gallery, 16-yr old Geneva Johnson of Bronx, NY

Hamilton Art Gallery is an established home-based business specializing in the production of Afro-American ceramics, such as, vases, figurines, bookstands and religious items.  Products are hand painted bisque representing the colorfulness of Geneva’s family heritage.  Her plan outlines how she, and her partners (siblings Jeremiah and Christina), will relocate and expand their business from their home to a storefront location on Adam Clayton Powell Blvd in New York.

Artists Who Care, Inc., 16-yr old Melanie Kier of Orange, CT

Artists Who Care is a nonprofit organization with the mission of helping agencies providing services for people in need (i.e. hospices, hospital, homeless shelters, etc.) create wish lists of items that can be made and provided by artists and crafts people in their community willing to donate their time and talent.  Artists Who Care helps identify the artists/craftspeople and ensures that the finished products reach their correct destination.  For more information, you can visit the website that Melanie has already created for her organization: www.artistswhocare.org.

Imprint Design Services, 17-yr old Adora Mora of Columbus, OH

Imprint Design Services is a cultural graphic design firm that ‘designs the image that is you.” Drawing upon a private collection of images by artists from Africa to integrate into their work as needed, IDS creates materials for developing professionals and small business owners (i.e. logos, letterheads, business cards and web sites) that reflect each client’s unique identity and cultural materials for community groups (i.e. invitations, tickets, programs, posters) to market their special events.

Buck-A-Pound Laundry Club, 19-yr old Gretchen Guo of Brookline, MA

Using the slogan  “Why do your laundry when you can be watching movies?”  Buck-A-Pound-Laundry Club targets college students in the Boston area.  Buck-A-Pound picks up its customers’ laundry each morning at designated areas on their campus, has the laundry washed, dried and folded at a local laundromat with which it has partnered, and delivers the laundry back to its owners the next day.  Club members also benefit from discounts, free movie ticket rewards and end of year school celebrations hosted by Buck-A-Pound.

Honorable Mention Award Winners:

• Dorina Jaubelli, 13 – Everything To Go

• Emma Kathryn Smith, 14 – Casey Click Binder Company

• Rachelle M. Chan, 15 – Heavenly Pastries

• Melissa Babin, 15 – The Doll Dresser

• Kathryn Burke, 15 – Strings 'n Things

• Emily Jewell, 16 – Shoes 4 You

• Alyssa Vandeleest, 16 – Be Fabulous Media Group

• Ivette Elescamo, 16 – Paradise of Fishes

• Minnie Floersch, 16 – Recovering Resources

• Alisa Forney, 16 – Picture Board

• Danielle Jareske, 17 – Shoes 4 You

• Annette LaSha Smith, 17 – Country Boi Records

• Jessica Merkley, 17 – J. Merkley Construction

• Lydia Buechler and Becca Antonelli, 17 – The Party People

• Kate Tomka and Ashley Stessman, 18 – Blooms for Buds

• Kanita Danielle Mason, 18 – Yahweh's Gift

• Stacy Blankenship, 19 – Timeless Events

• Erica L. Quigley, 20 – Erica's Closet

• Sheena Lindahl, 21 – Extreme Entrepreneurship Education Corp.