Hy-Vee hosted more than 400 attendees during its Hy-Vee OpportUNITY Business Summit for small business owners at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
The event featured an expo that offered resources for small businesses, learning opportunities through presentations and panel discussions and the chance to learn about local brands. 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.
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Hy-Vee recognized the following during an awards presentation at the event:
Grand prize winner – $30,000
BaKIT Box, Shelley Gupta, Chicago
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 two to three hours of educational and fun activities.
Category Winner: Food & Beverage – $5,000
Yes Honey, Heather Mincer, Norwood, Missouri
Yes Honey offers natural alternatives to traditional foods and beverages. With growing concerns around food allergies, it is 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, Illinois
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 percent on individual annual water bills.
Category Winner: Health, Wellness & Beauty – $5,000
Fresh Wheatgrass Girl LLC, Kerri Rush, Carlisle, Iowa
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 and Swych Box 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, Eve Beverage, No Sugar Baker LLC, Here I Go Travel Co., Rhythm Cosmetics, The LEGG Buddy, Aurexus Health, Soak iT Up and ROCKaBLOCK.
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