Press - Mayor’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award Winner Announced
Posted on: November 20, 2008
MAYOR’S ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT AWARD
WINNER ANNOUNCED
TULSA, OK – Mayor Kathy Taylor and SpiritBank President and CEO, Kell Kelly announced the winning company in the Mayor’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award competition last night at Crowne Plaza.
Grocio.com, who received the $30,000 check from SpiritBank, is a comparison-shopping engine for groceries. With your zip code and grocery list, Grocio.com will tell which grocer has the least expensive total checkout while providing valuable coupons matching the purchases. Gerald Buckley, owner and CEO of Grocio.com, secured a $30,000 match from i2e, from winning the Mayor’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award. i2e is a private non-profit Oklahoma corporation focused on wealth creation by growing the technology-based entrepreneurial economy within our state.
Lidy Mac, LLC, is the creator of a commercially propriety design of an infant crib bumper guard taking 2nd place, and The Lundeby’s Eco Baby, came in 3rd with a retail marketing business focused on marketing ecologically friendly and socially responsible goods. Lidy Mac, LLC, received at check of $5,000 and Lundeby’s Eco Baby received a check of $2,500, both provided by Spirit Bank.
All three businesses will receive business development assistance and coaching through a scholarship from the FastTrac program, sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation. Mayor Kathy Taylor said, "The Mayor’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award is intended to build on Tulsa’s entrepreneurial heritage by igniting the energy, excitement and creativity found in all Tulsans. It is evident that the winners of this year’s award exemplify this idea."
In its second year, the Mayor’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award is designed to promote small business growth in Tulsa by providing networking and other business opportunities to area small businesses.
"Start-up and early stage companies play a pivotal role in the economic vitality of Tulsa, and this business model competition provides an excellent way for existing and emerging entrepreneurs to develop," said Albert C. "Kell" Kelly, CEO of SpiritBank.