September 24, 2024 | News & Press Releases
Hy-Vee hosted more than 400 attendees during its Hy-Vee OpportUNITY Business Summit for small business owners in Kansas City this month.
The event featured an expo that offered resources for small businesses, learning opportunities through presentations and panel discussions, the chance to learn about local brands and more. The Hy-Vee OpportUNITY Business Summit is one of several initiatives led by Hy-Vee that helps support small business owners in the communities it serves.
One component of the summit involved a pitch competition where 15 leaders from minority- or women-owned, and/or other socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses from across the Midwest presented to a panel of judges. Each company leader was able to demonstrate their product or explain their service for the chance to win a small-business grant from Hy-Vee. The 15 participating companies were selected from more than 90 applications.
Hy-Vee recognized the following during an awards presentation at the event:
Grand Prize Winner - $30,000: BaKIT Box, Shelley Gupta, Chicago
About: BaKIT Box is a subscription box service that provides family-focused learning activities through globally inspired baking projects. From Mexican churros to Persian Love Cakes, each box includes pre-measured ingredients, color-coded recipe cards and culturally related STEM activities. BaKIT Box sells quarterly and annual subscription packages, as well as one-time purchases. Each BaKIT Box bundle offers families 2-3 hours of educational and fun activities.
Category Winner: Food & Beverage
- $5,000: Yes Honey, Heather Mincer, Norwood, Mo.
About: Yes Honey offers natural and delicious alternatives to traditional foods and beverages. With growing concerns around food allergies, they are a leader in producing not only gluten, dairy and artificial dye-free products, but also the first dedicated alpha-gal friendly brand. The company’s honey-sweetened sodas are crafted without corn syrup, stevia or sugar, making them healthier for those seeking a refreshing drink without allergen triggers or artificial ingredients.
Category Winner: Innovation & Technology
- $5,000: Drizzl, Khushi Shah, Peoria, Ill.
About: Drizzl is a smart irrigation system that leverages communication between underground sensors and a corresponding app to optimize water usage while minimizing consumer costs. Drizzl states it allows users to collectively reduce daily irrigation water usage by 4.5-13.5 billion liters and save 10%-25% on individual annual water bills.
Category Winner: Health, Wellness & Beauty
- $5,000: Fresh Wheatgrass Girl LLC, Kerri Rush, Carlisle, Iowa
About: Fresh Wheatgrass Girl LLC grows, harvests, juices and produces everything wheatgrass. This includes grow-your-own kits, fresh-cut wheatgrass by the pound, frozen juice shots, wheatgrass smoothie pouches and freeze-dried wheatgrass juice powder.
Caresticks Mobile Phlebotomy (Kansas City, Mo.) and Swych Box (Peoria, Ill.) were also presented with smaller cash prizes for their business ventures.
In addition to the above winners, the following businesses also participated in the pitch competition:
- EAT G.A.N.G.S.T.E.R, Andover, Kan.
- Eve Beverage, Kansas City, Kan.
- No Sugar Baker, LLC, Minnetonka, Minn.
- Here I Go Travel Co., Wichita, Kan.
- Rhythm Cosmetics, Liberty, Mo.
- The LEGG Buddy, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Aurexus Health, Columbia, Mo.
- Soak iT Up, Hugo, Minn.
- ROCKaBLOCK, Merrillville, Ind.
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Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating more than 550 business units across nine Midwestern states with sales of more than $13 billion annually. The supermarket chain is synonymous with quality, variety, convenience, healthy lifestyles, culinary expertise and superior customer service. Hy-Vee was recently named the No. 1 grocery store in America by USA TODAY. The company’s more than 75,000 employees provide “A Helpful Smile in Every Aisle” to customers every day. For additional information, visit www.hy-vee.com.