Ministry of Sport and Community Development

  1. Home
  2. News Releases
  3. La Brea Entrepreneurs awarded more than $300,000 in Business Pitch Competition

La Brea Entrepreneurs awarded more than $300,000 in Business Pitch Competition

The La Brea Committee on Sustainable Community Development in partnership with the Ministry of Sport and Community Development, the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC), Shell Trinidad and Tobago Limited, and NEDCO awarded thirteen (13) La Brea startups, and entrepreneurs more than $300,000 in prizes as part of the La Brea Economic Development Day’s Business Pitch Competition on July 10. The Business Pitch competition provided a unique opportunity for La Brea entrepreneurs to hone their entrepreneurial skills and demonstrate a critical understanding of their impact, targeted markets, and scalable strategies. It also assisted La Brea businesses to obtain much-needed funds to start or expand their business ventures thereby fostering economic growth and innovation in alignment with the needs of the La Brea community.

Businesses competing in the Business Pitch Competition were chosen via a call for submissions. Out of the numerous impressive business ideas, seventeen entrepreneurs were selected and underwent two days of intensive training by the National Entrepreneurship Development Company Limited (NEDCO). On July 5th, the day of the actual Business Pitch Competition, entrepreneurs pitched their innovative ideas in the categories of Environment/Sustainable Ecosystems/Technology, Food & Agriculture, Light Manufacturing, Tourism, and Youth Entrepreneurship to a stellar panel of judges comprising Dareem Jeffrey, Global Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Owner/Managing Director of EcoWash; Carla Cupid, Tourism Specialist and Communications Manager of the Ministry of Sport and Community Development; Joey Rivers, renowned Music Educator, Producer and Guitarist, Mary-Lou Chung and other private sector leaders and investors. The business owners were adjudicated on clarity and coherence of the business idea, market opportunity and feasibility, innovation and differentiation, presentation skills and delivery, and the potential for impact and scalability.

According to Renrick Campbell, Chair of the La Brea Committee on Sustainable Community Development, “the business pitch competition is crucial. It is an initiative born from the La Brea Economic Assessment Report in which businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs highlighted the challenges to start-up businesses and to access capital. Therefore, giving entrepreneurs and small business owners access to a means of obtaining the initial funding needed to launch their businesses or the additional capital required to grow puts them in a better position to support the community’s economic development. It inspires others to take a chance, launch a company, or start another business. These kinds of activities will support the micro-economy in the La Brea community, which is constantly evolving.”

This initiative is under the National Policy on Sustainable Community Development (NPSCD) geared towards creating sustainable communities across Trinidad and Tobago. It is the first holistic policy on community development and its implementation is ongoing. It is being piloted in five communities across Trinidad and Tobago – Beausejour/Patna Village, Perseverance Village in Chaguanas, Marabella, Canaan, Bon Accord/Crown Point in Tobago and La Brea. The Ministry’s Director, Policy Research and Planning, Dr.  Donna-Mae Knights stated that this initiative helps empower local communities to take ownership of their development and grow their economies. Additionally, it serves as a springboard for a variety of new community-led endeavours and enhances the entrepreneurial mindset and skill set of the participants, boosting their business acumen and facilitating the further commercialization of their products and services. The National Policy on Sustainable Community Development recognizes the private sector as an important collaborator in the process as demonstrated by their financial support to the Competition and to communities within the pilot. Dr. Knights indicated that between 2022-2023 companies invested just over $300,000 in economic development initiatives in the pilot communities, and these initiatives have the potential to earn over $2million per annum.  This demonstrates the potential economic impact of the Policy, which will also make inroads in the social and human, environmental and cultural development of the communities.

The winners of the La Brea Business Pitch Competition in the most outstanding category received $50,000 each, the second-place winners $20,000 each, and third place $10,000 each. The National Entrepreneurship Development Company (NEDCO) will induct all winners into its Entrepreneurial Development Program, which entails two (2) weeks of training and six (6) months of individualized support to ensure the long-term success of the business. There was also the consolation prize courtesy NEDCO.

The awardees were:

Environment/Sustainable Ecosystems/Technology:

  • Most Outstanding – Reiann Phillip, Green Poly Innovations
  • 2nd Prize – Bryan Francis, Fitness and Nutrition Cubicles
  • 3rd Prize – Ms. Carlene Thomas, Level Up Health and Fitness
  • Consolation Prize – Ms. Arlene Stewart, Alloo Home-style Gourmet Cuisine

Food & Agriculture:

  • Most Outstanding – Shemilla Dickson, Thymeless Harvest Farmstead

Light Manufacturing:

  • Most Outstanding: Jamie Thorpe, 5Kings Milk Products
  • 2nd Prize – Denzel Lamotte, Cari Pure
  • 3rd Prize – Tineka Francois, Francois Patois
  • Consolation Prize – Kintay Trim, Sky Juice Coconut Water

Tourism:

  • Consolation Prize – Narissa Boodram & Kyrese Boodram, Natural Food Growers and Services

Youth Entrepreneurship:

  • Most Outstanding – Shimone Anthony, Shimmerlicious Pizza
  • 2nd Prize – Bertille Hunte of Bertille Hunte Vocal Studio
  • 3rd prize – Asher Bain, LA Designs

Mr. Dan Martineau, Director, National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago congratulates the Business Pitch Competition’s Most Outstanding winner in the Environment/Sustainable Ecosystems/Technology category Ms. Reiann Phillip of Green Poly Innovations

The Honourable Stephen Mc Clashie, Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament for La Brea, congratulates the Business Pitch Competition’s Most Outstanding winner in the Light Manufacturing category Ms. Jamie Thorpe of 5Kings Milk Products.

Mr. Dan Martineau, Director, National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago congratulates the Business Pitch Competition’s Most Outstanding winner in the Food & Agriculture category Ms. Shemilla Dickson of Thymeless Harvest Farmstead

The Honourable Stephen Mc Clashie, Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament for La Brea, congratulates the Business Pitch Competition’s Most Outstanding winner in the Youth Entrepreneurship category, Ms. Shimone Anthony of Shimmerlicious Pizza.