PORT ORCHARD — Two North Olympic Peninsula businesses are among the 14 semi-finalists seeking a $20,000 prize in Kitsap Bank’s 2019 edg3 FUND small business competition.
Camp N Car, a business founded this year in Port Townsend to create custom platforms and cabinetry to transform cars into campers, and Port Angeles’ Peninsula Adventure Sports, which organizes runs, made the first cut along with others in Western Washington.
A public vote is set for Sept. 23-30 at www.kitsap bank.com/business/edg3- fund to narrow the field to five finalists.
Finalists will compete in a live competition Nov. 21 at Harborside Conference Center in Bremerton. They will present their pitches before a live audience and an independent panel of judges.
The winner will come away with $25,000.
A Peninsula business — Sequim Bee Farm — won the top prize in 2018.
The mission of edg3 FUND — which “rhymes with hedge fund; the 3 is silent,” according to a Kitsap Bank press release — is “to recognize entrepreneurs dedicated to growing their community in three ways: economically, socially and environmentally.”
“We are excited to have received applications from a number of very promising companies,” said Tony George, Kitsap Bank’s president/COO.
“All of these innovative and hardworking businesspeople are doing great things to promote a sustainable community, and we were honored that they invested their time and effort to join our contest.”
Other semi-finalists are Cascade Hygiene and Harsh Farm, both in Bremerton; Ekologi Design and Planning in Bellingham; Fuchsia Shoes Inc. in Bothell; JT’s Original Louisiana Bar-b-que in Gig Harbor; Tart Cider LLC and The Artisans Group, both in Olympia; The Art of Crunch in Tacoma; Time & Tide Technologies Inc. in Poulsbo; Unity Skate Shop and Village Green Golf Course, both in Port Orchard; and Williams Care Management of Bainbridge Island.
The bank also will award a $5,000 Community Award cash prize.
That prize will go to one business selected from the semi-finalist pool that, in the judges’ opinions, best embodies the spirit of community, based on their submitted application and video, the press release said.
Last year’s Community Award went to Dragonfly Cinema in Port Orchard.
Kitsap Bank is headquartered in Port Orchard and operates 21 locations throughout Western Washington.
It is ranked the 12th largest bank based in Washington state and is the sixth largest women-owned business, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.