For the third consecutive year, residents had a chance to get in on the ground floor of several up-and-coming local businesses Thursday.
The third annual Show of Hands Pitch Competition was held on the third floor of the Lyon County History Center and welcomed four local startups to share their ideas with the community. Once the pitches concluded, those in attendance had the opportunity to vote for and contribute financial support to each of the participating businesses.
The top vote-getter with just over $3,400 was Educators to Entrepreneurs, founded by Imaginarium owners Del Jacob and Melanie Curtis who also took part in the very first Show of Hands competition back in 2022 where they were the top vote-getters as well. Jacob tells KVOE News the new business will be an online resource with a global reach that helps others start up their own STEM education programs similar to Imaginarium.
Curtis tells KVOE News they developed the new business after seeing there was a large amount of desire for similar businesses outside of the local community.
Also participating in Thursday’s competition was Middle Ground Books and Gifts which was the second-highest vote-getter with $3,420, Mad Gaffer Glass Studio which brought in just over $2,600 and Kiosk which garnered a little over $2,100. Emporia Main Street Director Casey Woods was extremely pleased with the evening’s presentations and turnout saying Show of Hands has been a rousing success each year it has taken place.
He believes the continued participation from the local community has a lot to do with the fact that all attendees get to play a significant role in helping lay the foundation for what could become major staples in the Emporia community in the future.
On top of the financial contributions, all of the businesses also received $60 in vinyl lettering courtesy of Cofelt Sign Co. with Kiosk receiving a logo design from IM Design valued at $700 and both Mad Gaffer and Middle Ground both receiving $1,050 in advertisement courtesy of KVOE.
