Southern Oregon Represented in Small Business Administration InnovateHER Competition

ASHLAND, Ore. - Nov. 25, 2015 - PRLog -- For the first time, Southern Oregon will be represented in the SBA InnovatHER Competition, a competition focused on finding innovations that benefit the lives of women and families. On Saturday, Sustainable Valley Technology Group, in partnership with Women Entrepreneurs of Southern Oregon (WESO), hosted a regional qualifying event at Ashland Springs Hotel. The event is slated to be an annual event to identify a local innovator who will be submitted for a chance to participate the national Small Business Administration competition.

The competition featured eight innovative women who had five minutes to pitch their product or service to the audience. The pitches were then evaluated by the judges, a panel of local, female business owners including Loren Fogelman of BusinessSuccessSolution.com, Lisa Manyon of WriteOnCreative.com and Ginger Johnson of GingerJohnson.com

First prize was awarded to Cynthia Salbato with Tree House Secret Book Club http://thesecretbookclub.org/ for her online story writing game that empowers children to be the hero of their own story. Salbato also facilitates a young entrepreneurs program and is proprietor of The Tree House bookstore, a longstanding local business for 36 years in Ashland, Oregon. Salbato will receive $300 to help her business, 90 Days of Marketing Consulting and Coaching with Lisa Manyon valued at $3,000, and a yearlong membership to Women Entrepreneurs of Southern Oregon.

Salbato’s pitch will be submitted to the SBA for a chance to compete nationally in March. More details on the SBA InnovaterHer initiate can be found here http://bit.ly/SBAInnovateHerOverview. A KickStarter campaign is also underway for The Secret Book Club http://bit.ly/SecretBookClub

Second place was awarded to Shallan Ramsey of MaskIT for their sanitary and convenient solution for disposing of women's hygiene product. The recipient of third place was awarded to Jani Mestrovich (also known and Grandma Boom) for her work with children in the human potential and emotional awareness arena. Fourth place was awarded to Suzanne McQueen of 4 Seasons in 4 Weeks for her work with tracking and understanding the lunar rhythmic clock of the female reproductive system. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place winners were awarded a discovery session donated by Ginger Johnson.

About: Sustainable Valley is a nonprofit in Medford, Oregon that works to support local entrepreneurs through networking, mentoring, and funding. Women Entrepreneurs of Southern Oregon is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs and business owners.