A digital marketing agency, a Riverside eye clinic and a counseling practice took home the cash prizes this week at the finale of the Fort Worth Business Plan Competition, which marked its 15th year.
Eight finalists pitched to a panel of judges at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the city said in a release Friday. The annual competition, run by the city and sponsored by Frost Bank, is built around the local small business community.
The winners
- First place, $10,000: ICONIER, founded by Rishabh Sharma. The full-service agency works with small and mid-sized companies on turning their online presence into paying customers.
- Second place, $6,000: Panther City Eye Care, Julie Ervin's locally owned optometry office in Riverside. The audience also voted it the Perfect Pitch Prize, which comes with a $500 merchandise credit at Printed Threads.
- Third place, $4,000: Open-Minded Counseling, owned by Kaity Stone, which the city's release says offers "affirmative and inclusive" mental health and wellness care.
The other five finalists were Articulate Your Value, a workforce development and coaching firm; DMG Notaries, a document-signing service for real estate closings; MLK Prearrangements, which arranges funeral pre-planning with more than 40 area funeral homes; Sultrosium Wellness, which builds wellness plans around hormone and food sensitivity testing; and The West Wellness and Massage, which pairs medically supervised care with spa services.
