McDonough’s Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge Names Finalists
Four national finalists will pitch their business ideas to judges during Georgetown McDonough’s Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 96th Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show in San Diego. There is plenty of money up for grabs here– the four finalists will each win $15,000, and are vying to win the title Rural Entrepreneur of the Year for an additional $15,000, and the Peoples’ Choice Award for $10,000. In total, the competition will provide the finalists with up to $85,000 to implement their ideas.
The following finalists were chosen from more than 200 applicants:
Golden Bridges, Inc.– a company specializing in helping seniors transition from farms to more manageable housing in rural America.
Pasturebird, LLC– offers a system to produce pastured poultry on a larger scale with a low-cost method of rotational grazing enables farmers to raise healthy, pastured chicken, while also enriching their land.
Pulaski Grow– plans to use aquaponics technology to provide fresh, local produce and fish to the community throughout the year, while providing training for youth to become innovative employees, managers and entrepreneurs.
ScoutPro, Inc– deploys mobile crop scouting software for farmers and crop scouts. Scouts use the software when identifying weeds, insects, diseases and disorders common to corn and soybean production.
For more information about the challenge or the finalists, contact Cyndie Sirekis at cyndies@fb.org or Brynn Boyer at Brynn.boyer@georgetown.edu. A live feed of the finals competition will be available starting at 10:45 AM. Pacific Standard Time on Sunday, Jan. 11, and can be seen at fb.org/ruraldevelopment. The Rural Entrepreneur of the Year will be announced in the afternoon on Monday, Jan. 12.
Information for this post was found in this Press Release from the Georgetown McDonough website.