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Five finalists in the Momentum 5x5 Business Pitch Competition will present their business ideas on Tuesday, Aug. 16 to determine which Mason County entrepreneur will walk away with a $5,000 cash prize.

According to a press release from the Ludington & Scottville Chamber of Commerce, the public is invited to attend this pitch-night event at Epworth Heights, 1161 N. Lakeshore Drive, Ludington. A social hour will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by business pitches at 6 p.m. A panel of Epworth judges will decide that night who will win seed money to support a local entrepreneurial idea.

The Epworth Assembly and Epworth Church Association jointly fund the $5,000 prize as a way to give back to the community. The chamber and Epworth have been partnering to offer this event since 2018.

“Our thousands of cottagers benefit greatly by having vibrant local businesses in the Ludington area,” stated Epworth General Manager Kim Hamm in a press release. “This event gives us the opportunity to help budding businesses gain exposure to new customers while getting some seed money to help bring their new ideas to fruition.”

Applications were accepted this summer, and five finalists were selected by the Momentum 5x5 committee to participate in pitch night and will be given five minutes to pitch their idea:

Britters Twisted Whisk is a dessert bakery shop that bakes cupcakes, cookies, bars, and more. Born from a love for cooking and baking, Britters was started by Brittany Septrion in her home. She now has a location inside The Port Ludington. Septrion would like to expand her business to include more employees and additional food and packaging equipment.

Grip N Rip Disc Golf LLC

This Ludington business is a one-stop shop disc golf pro store that also hosts youth programs and tournaments. Owners Kayleen Moffitt and Tyler Martinsen have the idea to create a safe, family-friendly disc golf day that is affordable and fun for everyone. Funding would be used to make this an annual event in the area.

Owner Marissa Barnett hopes to grow her current outdoor, seasonal swim lesson business to an indoor, year-round swim school. She would like to expand her offerings to include private and semi-private lessons, small-group lessons, caregiver and child classes, year-round maintenance lessons for students to keep up skill levels, family swim lessons, scholarships for swim lessons, birthday parties, water safety classes, boater safety classes, lifeguard certifications and water aerobics.

Love Ludington Tour is an experience-based excursion that seeks to highlight area businesses while building community among the tour participants. Each bus tour includes five stops with unique, fun activities planned. Owner Bailey Richert would like to spend additional funding on marketing, which will increase awareness of her business – all with the goal to “showcase the area in a way that will draw in more tourists to our wonderful town.”

MI Travel Purpose LLC dba Cartier Mansion B&B

The owners of Cartier Mansion Bed & Breakfast, Chris and Jenna Simpler, hope to utilize virtual walkthrough technology, widely used by real estate agents, to create a Virtual Historic Homes Tour with an emphasis on Ludington's new Historic District. Offering a new way to showcase the gorgeous historic homes here will be especially significant with the city’s 150th anniversary in 2023.

This will be the fourth Momentum 5x5 in Mason County put on by the chamber and Epworth.

The 2018 winner, Sister Bees, won $5,000 and went on to a larger competition, the Momentum Business Plan Competition, in which the Ludington skin-care company won $50,000.

In 2019, My Inspired Studio was awarded $5,000 in the 5x5 contest. Entrepreneur and artist Sarah Stechschulte used the funds for her subscriber-based, monthly creative kit which included art supplies plus online instruction. Stechschulte won another $14,000 in the larger Momentum competition with her Inspired Parties business.

House and Harbor, a local candle company, was the winner in 2021 and recently opened a downtown Ludington storefront.

This year’s winner will be eligible to participate in the larger Momentum competition, currently being planned for 2023.

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