Tory C. Marandos Entrepreneurial Challenge

On Saturday, Aug. 4,2012, winners of the 2nd Annual Tory C. Marandos Entrepreneurial Challenge were announced. The business plan competition was administered by Southern New Hampshire University’s Center for Women’s Business Advancement and ended with the top five finalists presenting to a panel of five judges with the winners announced at an awards banquet that evening.   

The $5,000 first place prize was awarded to Monica Leap from Studio 550, an art studio based in Manchester that offers a variety of classes and opportunities to children and adults as well as art pieces in their gallery. Monica and her team at Studio 550 work closely with the public in pursuit of supporting their mission to enrich the Manchester community with art and creativity.

The competition awarded a $2,000 second place prize to Roger Bailey of Wise Technology. Wise Technology has developed an amphibious ice rescue vehicle that is specifically designed for saving lives in unsafe environments. Roger and his employees have separated themselves from a traditional industry by incorporating innovation in the quest of saving more lives in less time.

The other three finalists recognized in the awards ceremony were: Cream HR, a non-traditional human resource firm changing the way employees are hired; Speaking Web, a web-based sound technology company, focuses on increasing primary reading skills and introducing secondary languages to children early on in their educational development; and, Value e-Discovery, a software solutions company that supports civil and criminal litigation by retrieving and securing vital data.

The Tory C. Marandos Entrepreneurial Challenge is named after late entrepreneur Tory Marandos. Tory Marandos was an entrepreneur and caring young man whose life was abruptly ended.  According to his family, friends, and co-workers, he went above and beyond for anyone who came into his life.

This year, the second prize was awarded through generous funding by the family of Jacques Thibodeau, in loving memory of their father and in honor of his entrepreneurial spirit.

Eligibility for this competition was limited to new companies in New Hampshire that have been in business for three years or less. Working as a platform for advancement, the Tory C. Marandos Entrepreneurial Challenge encourages all participants to continue in the pursuit of their business aspirations and to look for assistance in the New Hampshire community.

This year's concept papers for the challenge are due March 15th by 11:59 PM  click here for more details