This year's PowerUP! grand prize winner.The competition was Hemp Thyself, a local CBD health and skin company
Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) recently awarded more than $40,000 in prizes to budding entrepreneurs during its 20th annual PowerUP. Business plan contest.
This year’s grand prize went to Hemp Thyself, a local CBD health and skin company chosen from over 350 business proposals by an esteemed panel of judges.
Powering up! At the awards ceremony, Noel Gaskin, Jovon Browne and Cheryl Cupepper, the trio behind Hemp Thyself, were presented with their $20,000 grand prize by his Dime Community Bank, the contest's lead sponsor.
Jessica Hartman, founder of Brooklyn Click and Connect (a used Lego retailer), won second place and $10,000. Meanwhile, the third place prize of $5,000 went to Ashley Marrero and Charles Asante of Kente Corns, a pop-up ice cream shop that uses fair trade ingredients from Africa.
Other winning ventures include New York Narratives (a walking tour company), Empress by Emisia (an art printing company), Gina Andremies (a jewelry brand), and Eat the Invaders (an artisan food company).
Power up BPL! The initiative originally began in 2003 as a way to provide assistance to post-9/11 businesses.
Since then, the PowerUP! competition has challenged more than 200 entrepreneurs in the borough, including some of Brooklyn's most successful businesses such as Bogota Latin Bistro, Brooklyn Tea, Greenlight Bookstore, and Tinsel Experiential Design. More than $600,000 in prizes were awarded.
“For 20 years, the Brooklyn Public Library has served as a foundation for Brooklyn's innovators and entrepreneurs with the PowerUP! “We would like to thank Dime Community Bank for their support and look forward to working with them in 2023,” said Linda E. Johnson, Brooklyn Public Library President and CEO. We would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the award winners.”
