By Olivia Jessup | Echo
The Grant County Economic Growth Council honored the winners of this year's Spirit of Entrepreneurship competition with an awards dinner on Thursday, Nov. 21.
The competition aims to celebrate economic growth and business development that creates jobs for the community. The award itself is given to a local entrepreneur who has impacted the community through innovation and perseverance. The new Tree of Life store won the award this year for their business innovation and development.
"We enjoyed honoring all of our local entrepreneurs. We believe there is a lot of talent in Grant County," said Courtney Smear, marketing and communications director of the Growth Council. "The Council is a huge advocate of entrepreneurship because we believe that creating new businesses is way to bring new jobs to the community."
In addition to honoring the winners of the competition, the Growth Council presented awards to the first, second and third place winners of the Young Entrepreneurs Program (YEP). The YEP seeks to reach out to the youth of Grant County and encourage interest in entrepreneurship.
Nine different teams of juniors and seniors from Marion and Mississinewa High Schools competed to create a business idea for Grant County. The first place winner was a group with a business called Tech Styles.
"It's shaped our community in that it has grown potential at a very young age. We have a lot of very talented high school students who just need the opportunity to express their creativity," Smear said. Smear also noted that it teaches them both personally and professionally and helps them grow.
"The spirit of entrepreneurship brings hope and jobs to Grant County so our children will stay in this county when they are coming into the workforce," said Gary Ott, CEO of TLC Management and 2012 SOE honoree in the press release for the event.
The keynote speaker of the event was Andy Dalton, the founder and CEO of My Mobile Fans. His business was a finalist for Emerging Business of the Year by the Entrepreneurial Advancement Center. He discussed nine myths of entrepreneurship and challenged the attendees of the event to pursue new business ventures.
"We want to encourage entrepreneurship at all ages and develop strong employees and strong citizens of our community," Smear said. The Growth Council hopes to continue encouraging entrepreneurs to develop business plans to benefit the community.