By Kim McDarison

Whitewater city officials have announced that eight competitors from a field of 13 have been selected to compete as finalists in the Whitewater WindUp business startup competition.

Plans for the competition were initially announced in January after the city’s Community Development Authority (CDA) approved a prize fund of $160,000.

At the time, then-CDA Director Calli Berg said that the contest was still in a “conceptual stage,” but the idea was to invite area entrepreneurs to bring forward a business idea or plan and compete for the available money.

Berg said that both the city and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater were involved with the contest, with the city, through its development arm, the CDA, providing the prize money, naming the contest, and developing a plan through which business concepts could be matched with available locations primarily within the city’s downtown, and the university providing students and staff to help organize, set up and market the contest, along with judging business plans at various stages of the process, and creating and facilitating a series of mandatory workshops designed to help selected entrepreneurs grow their plans.

The goal is to find and foster businesses that will operate successfully in the city of Whitewater, Berg told WhitewaterWise in January. Shortly after the January interview, Berg resigned from the directorship position, with city officials citing “a personnel” matter as cause. Following the resignation, then-Whitewater Chief of Staff Taylor Zeinert was appointed to the position as an interim. She assumed the role of permanent CDA Director last Wednesday.

Berg, in January, said that locations, both private and public, to potentially house a business may be found anywhere within the city, adding that some focus is anticipated to be placed on the city’s downtown area.

The contest is potentially a driver to help fill vacant storefronts, while bringing more traffic and visibility to the city’s downtown.

The objective is to use the prize fund by investing in businesses throughout the city and increasing the value of the city’s building stock, Berg added. 

An earlier story, including the interview with Berg, and an outline of the contest’s goals, is here: https://whitewaterwise.com/cda-approves-160000-prize-fund-city-uw-whitewater-to-offer-entrepreneurial-contest/.

As the contest commenced, those interested in participating were invited to fill out an application, and attend a series of mandatory workshops, which led to a field of 13 contestants who were awarded an opportunity, through placement on an online app, for community members to vote for their business concept.

Voting opened Sunday, April 21, and closed at midnight on Saturday, April 27, Zeinert said.

The 13 businesses, with a brief description supplied by city officials, which competed for a ranking on the app included:

• McPup’s: McPup’s offers convenient, healthy to go meals for traveling pups.

• Uptown Revive: Discover curated elegance at Uptown Revive, where timeless fashion finds a new home, and style meets sustainability.

• Heather’s Tailoring and Custom Sewing: Expert tailoring, dazzling dresses and seeking passionate new team members to join the growth.

• The Wellnest Shop: A store focused on providing organize, nontoxic products for a healthy lifestyle.

• Whitewater Grocery Cooperative: The Whitewater Grocery Cooperative is a community-owned initiative tackling the local food access issue.

• BristaCats Café: BaristaCats Café provides a relaxing space for college students to socialize with cats while caring for adoptable felines.

• Advasec: A cutting-edge virtual cyber security design for information security students.

• The Book Teller: Where literary treasures meet vibrant community.

• BH Events LLC- Bowers House: A space where community members can come together, fostering is sense of connection and shared experiences.

• Unique Furniture: Unique Furniture: Building confidence, one piece at a time.

• Stellar Vintage: A curated space that provides high-quality true vintage clothing to the Whitewater Community and beyond.

• The Poppy Seed Company: Cultivating community through celebrations.

• Obby’s LLC: Toddler food made for tiny taste buds.

City officials on Monday announced the names of the eight companies whose concepts received the top rankings through the app and will next compete in a finalist round.

Zeinert noted that community members participating through the app were asked to rank each of the contestants using a scale of 1-10.

According to the release, some 1,000 individuals used the app to participate in the ranking system.

The eight contestants receiving the highest ranks, in ranked order and who will advance to a finalist round of competition, are as follow:

• Whitewater Grocery Cooperative

• The Book Teller

• Uptown Revive

• Stellar Vintage

• The Wellnest Shop

• The Poppy Seed Company

• BaristaCats Café

• BH Events LLC- Bowers House

Zeinert said next steps will commence on Saturday, May 18, when the eight finalists will appear before a panel of seven judges, during which time each will be offered a five-minute opportunity to introduce and pitch their business concept. Contestants additionally will be asked to outline their “ask,” meaning, explain to the judges — who will be awarding the winner at least one year’s rent — how much, in additional monies, they might need to launch their idea.

“It could be facade work or awnings, things like that,” Zeinert said.

The seven judges are: Whitewater City Councilman Neil Hicks, CDA board member Christ Christon, student and young entrepreneur Chad Tjgum, Jefferson County Economic Development Consortium Director Deb Reinbold, Walworth County Economic Development Alliance Director Derek D’Auria, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater College of Business and Economics professor and a Whitewater WindUp workshop facilitator Kevin Kaufman, and Miguel Aranda, who is a Whitewater Unified School District Board of Education member serving the panel as a community representative, Zeinert said. 

Members of the public are invited to attend the final round of the contest in person at the Whitewater University Innovation Center, 1221 Innovation Dr., Whitewater, between 9 and 11 a.m.

A final winner will be selected by the panel on May 18, Zeinert said, noting that the winner will receive money to pay rent at a chosen location for one year, along with their other “built in” expenditures as outlined within their in-person presentation.

Of the pledged $160,000 in prize money, she said, any uncommitted funds will be dispersed between the second- and third-place winners.

City officials have developed a list of potential store fronts into which a winning business can be placed, Zeinert said.

“We haven’t picked one yet because we want to match the right one to the right business,” she said.

She said she and city officials were impressed with the amount of community involvement the contest had received, pointing to the nearly 1,000 participants who ranked the contestants through the app.

The idea to continue the contest in subsequent years will be brought before the CDA, she said.

Looking at the potential for an annual contest, she said, “nothing has been set in stone.”