Local Ginger Wins 2010 North of Boston Business Plan Competition

WINS $5,000 first prize, Solar Sheds, second prize; EcoCentric Resources TOPIA third prize.

April 13, 2010 Salem, MA – The Enterprise Center at Salem State College today announced the winners of the Sixth Annual North of Boston Business Plan Competition.  Local Ginger of Newburyport, MA won the grand prize of $5,000. Solar Sheds of Peabody, MA came in second winning $3,000 and EcoCentric Resources TOPIA  of Salem, MA took home the third prize of $2,000.  The Enterprise Center is a non-profit business growth center for entrepreneurs at every stage of business development.

The winners are:

First Place: Local Ginger (Newburyport, MA)

A marketing communication channel to help local merchants reach likely customers through email and SMS technologies.

Second Place: Solar Sheds (Peabody, MA) 

Develops and markets, energy conversion products for the solar photovoltaic industry.

Third Place: EcoCentric Resources DBA TOPIA  (Salem, MA)

Online sales of environmentally responsible, non-toxic household products made with authentic natural ingredients, and “chlorine free” baby diapers and baby wipes directly to consumers. 

“We received an amazing and very broad group of business plans in this year’s competition—ranging from green companies to service businesses, from health care to insurance software to interactive tourist offerings.  The plans reflect the diversity of the North of Boston business community and the creativity of our workforce,” said Christine Sullivan, Executive Director of the Enterprise Center.

Twenty two companies entered the contest.  Three finalists were selected to participate in public presentations held last night to vie for $10,000 in prize money.  Finalists are startups and emerging businesses less than three years old.  To qualify for the competition each business has committed to locating on the North Shore or Merrimack Valley and to grow to at least five full time employees or full time equivalent employees within two years.

Corporate sponsors of the competition include platinum sponsor Eastern Bank, gold sponsor Danversbank, silver sponsor Apredica*, Burns & Levinson, LLP, Differential Proteomics*, North Shore Bank, North Shore Technology Council, Salem Five, The Salem News. *indicates prior winners of competition.

Co-Sponsors included 128 Innovation Capital Group, Amesbury Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bertolon School of Business Salem State College, Beverly Chamber of Commerce , Cape Ann Business Incubator, Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, Creative Economy Association of the North Shore, Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce, Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce, Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce, Homebased Businesswomen's Network, Ipswich Chamber of Commerce, Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce, Marblehead Chamber of Commerce, Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce, Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council, Inc., North Shore Chamber of Commerce, Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce, Salem Chamber of Commerce, Salem State Alumni Association, Small Business Development Center at Salem State College. 

Contact Information for winners:

Arik Keller, Local Ginger 978-387-3738 arik@localginger.com
Frank Harrington, Solar Sheds 978-335-7724 fharrington@alumni.uml.edu
Lane Nielson, EcoCentric Resources TOPIA 617-510-0274