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A hearty congratulations are in order for Shalonda and Michael Burnside's Lil Pop Gourmet Popcorn, the grand prize winner of the Fort Worth Business Plan Competition.
The family-owned business that specializes in homemade gourmet popcorn took home the first prize of $10,000 on Thursday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Second prize and a check for $6,000 was awarded to Saria Hawkins of Manifest Your Purpose, a luxury stationery and office accessories company that celebrates the beauty and multidimensionality of Black women.
Brian Frank of Knarly Vans, a company that designs and manufactures components to help owners maximize the use of their passenger vans, was the winner of the $4,000 prize that went to third place.
The Fort Worth Business Plan Competition is an annual celebration of the city’s entrepreneurs and small businesses. Twenty businesses, from two to five years old, completed six weeks of business development training and coaching before applying those skills to their own written plans.
The top eight of the judged written plans gathered on Thursday to make a final three-minute pitch to the judges, followed by a two-minute round of Q&A.
City of Fort Worth
From left, Shannon Watt (Frost Bank), Lauren Kutschke (Salted Pages/emcee) and Robert Sturns (city of Fort Worth) with the winners of the 2023 Fort Worth Business Plan Competition — Michael and Shalonda Burnside of Lil Pop Gourmet Popcorn, Saria Hawkins of Manifest Your Purpose, Brian Frank of Knarly Vans, and Michelle Holloway of Lifestyle Transitions.
The final scores were a 50-50 combination between the written and the pitch portions of the competition.
Michelle Holloway of Lifestyle Transitions won the popular vote from the audience, also known as the Perfect Pitch Prize. Lifestyle Transitions performs home inspections for seniors and makes mobility recommendations that decrease the likelihood of falls.
LiL Pop Gourmet Popcorn was an enterprise inspired by the Burnsides' daughters and their love for popcorn and cooking. Making homemade popcorn was a way for the family to spend time together and for the parents to teach their daughters about entrepreneurship.
The other four to advance to the finals included:
Hallelujah! Brittles & Sweetz, a candy company that sells homemade nut brittles.
Honeybee Wellness & Consulting, a for-profit, private mental health agency for young adults suffering from decreased athletic performance or related injuries.
Pure Vegan Pantry, which transforms traditional pantry essentials to ensure that a plant-based lifestyle can be easy, accessible, and delicious.
RIPE Publishing House, a comprehensive solution for aspiring authors to self-publish their work.
This year’s returning sponsor for the Perfect Pitch Prize was Printed Threads, which contributed $500 in credit for the winner to receive custom merchandise for their business.
The Fort Worth Business Plan Competition was organized by the city of Fort Worth’s Economic Development Department and sponsored by Frost Bank.
A variety of supporting partners also helped provide coaching and mentorship to the participating businesses, including TechFW, HSC Innovates, SCORE Fort Worth, Tarrant County Small Business Development Center, AccelerateDFW Foundation, and the North Texas Entrepreneur Education and Training Center.