Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The open Port of Whitman/WSU business plan competition has been put on hold after Port commissioners voted to de-fund their $15,000 investment in prize money.
The annual competition has honored local start-ups since 2007.
“We’ve been evaluating the usefulness of the competition,” said Debbie Snell, Properties and Development Manager for the Port of Whitman. “We need to re-evaluate whether it’s the best way to spend our economic development dollar.”
The deadline for this year’s contest was to be Feb. 10. The Port voted on Jan. 17 to hold back their investment.
The Southeast Washington Economic Development Association (SEWEDA) has administered the competition on behalf of the Port of Whitman and WSU, which still runs their student part of the contest.
The open part of the competition began when Port of Whitman Executive Director Joe Poire teamed with WSU School of Business professor Joe Harris to expand the university’s contest to actual new businesses in the community.
“The Port of Whitman has been a real proponent of getting businesses quick-started,” said Marshall Doak, executive director of SEWEDA. “Our response to this is that we’re interested in community feedback. Continued operation of the contest would need donors and sponsors for the prize money, other than a beauty contest, if you will.”
Last year’s winners included two Uniontown operations.
Grandma Lela’s Oatmeal was awarded $6,000 for first prize while Hammond Farm Innovations won $3,500 in a tie for second place.
The WSU student part of the contest includes alumni donations contributing to a first prize of $15,000.
“It’s been a successful program but the commissioners want to step back and decide where the best bang for the buck is for economic development money,” Snell said.
“It’s disappointing but I totally understand,” said WSU’s Harris.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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