Burlington awards $100,000 in second year of entrepreneurship competition

We are thrilled to announce that our current signature partner, Generator and our previous signature partner, The Women’s Small Business Program, have been awarded grants by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation! For more about Davis & Hodgdon’s signature partnership and CSR program please click here.

Vermont Business Magazine – Mayor Weinberger today awarded $100,000 in grants to help entrepreneurs start and grow more businesses in Burlington. Fully funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Mayor’s Prize for Entrepreneurship was first launched in October 2017 as a way to increase support for innovation and entrepreneurship in Burlington.

The winners of the 2018 Burlington Mayor’s Prize for Entrepreneurship are:

• Generator: $50,000 awarded to Generator, Burlington’s largest makerspace, which provides the tools, training, community, and workspace to help makers test, evolve, prototype, and bring their best concepts to market. With this award, Generator will complete a four-fold expansion of its JumpStart program, which provides founder education and support for early stage entrepreneurs.
• The Center for Women and Enterprise: $25,000 awarded to the Center for Women and Enterprise to build on the success of its Power Forward program, a four-month accelerator designed to support women-owned firms. With the award, CWE will expand this program to the food and retail industries, and also launch a new Retail Bootcamp initiative, an eight-week course designed to help retail entrepreneurs open a brick-and-mortar business.
• Women’s Small Business Program – Mercy Connections: $25,000 awarded to the Women’s Small Business Program, which provides business and financial education to aspiring women entrepreneurs. With the award, WSBP will activate its extensive alumnae network and expand into new initiatives, including specialized workshops, peer-to-peer exchanges, and mentoring networks.

“I am proud to award the Mayor’s Prize for Entrepreneurship to these three organizations, which work to help local entrepreneurs succeed and in turn drive economic development in Burlington,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “As the City works hard to make Burlington a great place to live, work, and do business, part of our role is to invest in the people and organizations that are making an impact. I’m appreciative of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Found ation for recognizing Burlington’s potential and ambition and providing us the support that allowed us to create this award, and I’m excited to see how these three organizations use these funds to spark innovation and entrepreneurship in Burlington.”