Wayne County Office of Economic Development and Planning is once again announcing opportunities for new local business development. The locally run KickStart initiative is maturing into its fourth year to include the popular adult “pitch” competition and, new in 2022, a student “pitch” competition. The last three annual adult Pitch Competitions have invested a total of nearly $100,000 into three businesses that were early stage companies. Load Alone of Newark was the 2019 winner, then Agri-trak in 2020 and Sodus Bay Outfitters in 2021. The adult competition requires companies to develop business plans, to pitch their plan to a panel of judges and if chosen, to legally incorporate and launch their concepts into a working business.
New in 2022, the student pitch competition will encourage high school students to develop a business plan summary describing their business ideas, to provide financial projects and then to submit a video of their business pitch. Wayne County residents who are students in grades 9 to 12 for the 2022-2023 school year are eligible to participate. Youth entrepreneurs can work in teams and may garner support from their teachers, mentors and other disclosed economic development resources. Winners will receive small cash awards. Deadlines for submission for both the adult pitch and youth competitions will be in September and October respectively. Another Wayne County funding program available now, and aimed to also kick start local business, is the MicroBurst grant which can fund startup expenses up to $20,000. This program runs on an open application process. Guidelines for all these programs are available at www.WEDCny.com under Small Business Assistance.
“We are seeing a lot more economic activity in the local business market,” stated Brian Pincelli, Director of Economic Development. “Creating and encouraging entrepreneurship is a vital part of our long term strategy.” These programs help to advance economic opportunities to all Wayne County residents.
The Wayne County Economic Development and Planning department performs multiple functions including implementation of local economic development initiatives, County planning board reviews, and management of land use and other planning studies. Staff members also provide services to the County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the Wayne Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) which offer several loan funds and can provide benefits to companies locating or expanding in Wayne County that meet certain qualifying criteria. More information about these programs is available online at https://web.co.wayne.ny.us on the Economic Development or Planning pages. For more information, contact the office directly at 315-946-5919 or email wedcny@co.wayne.ny.us.
