10 Oregon and SW Washington start-up and existing women-owned businesses competed for $50,000 in awards
PORTLAND, WA / ACCESSWIRE / October 11, 2024 / KeyBank'sKey4Women program, Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon (MESO), and the Portland Thorns FC announced that local business, DTOCS LLC, is the winner of a business pitch contest for women-owned businesses (WOBs) located in Oregon and SW Washington. The event was held October 10th at Providence Park in Portland.
Owner Pallavi Pande won the grand prize of $20,000, which will go toward their eco-friendly sustainable single use dinnerware solution for a plastic free world.
Pande was one of 10 finalists that were selected to compete for cash awards totaling $50,000 from a pool of 89 applicants. MESO worked to review and select entries that satisfied the competition criteria. Businesses were required to include a detailed business plan, mini-market analysis and profit projections for their service or product. The finalists presented a 4-minute pitch, and fielded questions for 6-minutes to a panel of 6 judges. Out of the 10 finalists, there was 5 start-ups and 5 existing businesses. The grand prize winner could be from either category, while the runners-up were chosen from both categories. Other winners include:
Runner Up- Callie's Custom Hat Wigs- $8,000 prize
Runner Up- For Bitter For Worse- $8,000 prize
Ella Dean- $2,000 prize
Bus Camp LLC- $2,000 prize
I'M UKRAINIAN- $2,000 prize
Hull-some Foods, LLC- $2,000 prize
Mimi's Fresh Tees- $2,000 prize
Coast Fork Brewing- $2,000 prize
Gal Pal Productions- $2,000 prize
"We congratulate Pallavi and her team at DTOCS LLC on winning the grand prize. Their pitch was inspiring, and we are so glad to help them grow and expand," said Josh Lyons, KeyBank Oregon and SW Washington Market President. "Women business owners and leaders positively impact our economy and communities in powerful ways every day, which is evident based on the strength and diversity of the applications we received."
To be eligible, businesses must be fifty-one percent (51%) or more owned and controlled by a woman, women and/or by an individual or individuals who self-identify as women. They must also be headquartered in one of the following Oregon counties: Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Columbia, Hood River, Yamhill, Marion, Benton, Lane, Linn, Jackson, Polk - OR one of the following Washington counties: Clark, Cowlitz, or Skamania.
Final awards were chosen by a panel of judges, which included:
Heather Davis, Chief Executive Officer of the Portland Timbers
Josh Lyons, KeyBank Oregon and SW Washington Market President
Alexis Lee. President of Business Operations of the Portland Thorns
Jon Maroney, General Partner of Oregon Venture Fund
Mayra Arreola, Chief Shared Prosperity Officer of the Port of Portland
Melody Brown, Founder of L&M Hair Company and 2024 Key4Women Pitch Contest Winner
Criteria used to determine winners included the quality of the presentation, clarity of business vision and mission, economic impact of the idea and the soundness of value proposition.
ABOUT MESO
Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon (MESO) elevates and empowers under-resourced and excluded entrepreneurs to build resilience, equity, and thriving communities through access to capital, tailored business assistance, and education. Founded in 2005 to assist Black-owned small businesses that were experiencing challenges in the wake of gentrification in North and Northeast Portland, the nonprofit now serves more than 600 entrepreneurs and small businesses in Oregon and Southwest Washington each year. MESO is a designated SBA microlender, an IDA fiduciary, and a Certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).
ABOUT PORTLAND THORNS FC
Founded in 2012, Portland Thorns FC have set the standard for fan support and on-field success in women's soccer since its inaugural 2013 season. One of the world's most supported women's soccer clubs, Portland has led the league in attendance for eight seasons and set a new club playoff attendance record last year with 25,218 fans supporting Thorns FC in the 2023 semifinal match at Providence Park. Thorns FC have won the NWSL Championship a league-record three times (2013, 2017, 2022) and finished as runners-up in 2018. The club has made the postseason a league-high nine times and has won the NWSL Shield in 2016 and 2021.
In January of 2024 the Club was purchased by the Bhathal Family of RAJ Sport, with Lisa Bhathal Merage serving as Governor and Alex Bhathal as Alternate Governor, with Marta Bhathal and Raj Bhathal rounding out the family-led ownership group. The Bhathal family is also Principal Co-Owners of the NBA's Sacramento Kings, which was recently named NBA Team of the Year in large part due to the team's positive impact on the local Sacramento community. The Kings parent organization also owns the Sacramento RiverCats AAA baseball club, Stockton Kings NBA-G League club, and Kings Guard NBA 2K esports team.
ABOUT KEYCORP
KeyCorp's roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $187 billion at June 30, 2024. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,200 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit?https://www.key.com/. KeyBank Member FDIC.
ABOUT KEY4WOMEN
Key4Women started in 2005 as a campaign to lend $1 billion to qualified women-owned businesses within three years. The program achieved that in two years and has now generated more than $12 billion in loans to women-owned businesses. Membership in Key4Women is free. In addition to helping women business leaders and owners tap into capital to build and grow their businesses, Key4Women members gain valuable access to a team of local Certified Key4Wome Advisors who advocate, connect and empower women on their journey to financial wellness. For more information, visit key.com/key4women.
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Laura Suter | KeyBank Regional Communications Manager | 206.343.6953 | laura_suter@keybank.com
Meaghan Evans | MESO | Digital Marketing Manager | 971.393.2785 | mevans@mesopdx.org
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SOURCE: KeyBank
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