Daily News

Jonathan LaFrance Wins Pitch Competition with Sergeant Shower

HOLYOKE — Jonathan LaFrance, an MBA student from Bay Path University, took first place at last night’s awards ceremony and banquet for the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, pitching Sergeant Shower, a biodegradable, two-sided, single-use, all-in-one shampoo and body-wash cloth mitt.

LaFrance convinced a panel of judges from six area banks that his pitch was the best at the event held at the Log Cabin. Jonathan Mendez, a Holyoke Community College student, took second place based on his business concept pitch for Mean Green Detergent Machine, a kiosk in stores allowing people to refill their laundry-detergent bottle. Steven Goldberg, a student at Amherst College, took third place with DineToday, a platform allowing restaurants to post discounts for off-peak reservation times.

The live event featured a student representative from each of the 14 participating local colleges: American International College, Amherst College, Bay Path University, Elms College, Greenfield Community College, Hampshire College, Holyoke Community College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Springfield College, Springfield Technical Community College, UMass Amherst, Western New England University, and Westfield State University. First-, second-, and third-place winners received $1000, $750, and $500 respectively. Each student participating received $100.

The judges represented Berkshire Bank, Country Bank, First Niagara Bank, PeoplesBank, United Bank, and Westfield Bank.

The judges also identified nine winning teams as Best Exhibitors. These were selected from a pool of 56 unique companies during a ‘trade show’ portion of the evening which featured the 2016 Grinspoon Entrepreneurial Spirit Award winners. The three first-place winners (each receiving an additional award of $600) were: Connor Brown and Xavier Reed from Amherst College with Meetum, a platform for students to openly share events and activities with the college community; Misael Ramos from Springfield College with Royaume Expressions, garment decoration; and Joey Baurys and Nicolette LaPierre from Western New England University with Hemoflux, a prenatal genetic testing company.

The Entrepreneurship Initiative is one of several local initiatives supported by the philanthropy of Harold Grinspoon. For more information, visit www.hgf.org.