The winner of the Listowel BIA's "Win This Space" contest was unveiled last night in a finale ceremony held at the Trillium building in Listowel.
The contest was narrowed down to five finalists, and Listowel BIA Coordinator Lisa Schaefer says they all went through extensive training and education on small business to get to this point.
"For us, the most important part is the education, because anyone can say they want to start a business, but we had 14 contestants, and by the end, we did not have 14, because the realized with the training, they're not ready. So that was really an important aspect to us," she says.
The five finalists were Hymer's Glutenless Pizza, McIntosh Farms, Melissa's Makes, The Pulp Fresh Bar and The Solution Wizard. Schaefer says it was important for the contestants to learn the values of being a part of Listowel.
"Our business community is amazing, they support our community, they give countless donations, they volunteer their time. They're not just a business, they're a part of this community, so it's very important to us that every contestant feels that they want to be a part of the community, as well," she says.
The grand prize winner was McIntosh Farms, who will receive a prize package worth over $23,000 to help set up a new business in downtown Listowel.
McIntosh Farms sells meat including beef and chicken as well as eggs.
Erin McIntosh says even if she didn't win, the training she received in small business management was crucial.
"The training that they gave us was invaluable. As a farmer, in running a successful business but not knowing anything about marketing, and the business end of it, it's been amazing," says McIntosh. "So just that alone I was happy with, and if I didn't make it to the next level, just the training alone was what I wanted so it's been amazing."
McIntosh Farms plans on setting up a local butcher shop in their new space. McIntosh says one aspect of their training was learning about marketing techniques including social media reach.
"Posting and social media has to be a constant thing, and maybe as a business owner, because your time is so valuable you don't always have time to do it. So now we know that we need to hire someone to do all of that work."
The Pulp Fresh Bar was the runner-up receiving a prize package worth just over $2,700, and all five finalists received a prize package to help launch their businesses.
Lisa Schaefer, left, the Listowel BIA Coordinator, congratulates the "Win This Space" winner Erin McIntosh of McIntosh Farms. (Photo by Ryan Drury)
The 5 finalists of the Listowel BIA's "Win This Space" competition pose with the members of the Listowel BIA "Win This Space" organizing group. (Photo by Ryan Drury)