Spark entrepreneurship in rural communities on the Washington Coast! Contribute to the prize money for the Coast Works sustainable small business competition!
Goal: $25,000 for a $10,000 first prize and multiple runner up prizes.
Prize money will be used to finance the startup of new small businesses that make money, build the local economy, and protect the environment. Thanks to the generous support of the Quinault Indian Nation, Enterprise for Equity, and the Washington Department of Commerce, we've already raised $16,000, so only $9,000 to go!
Last year's participants working on their business model canvases at our weekend-long training in Forks, Washington.
16 Participating Emerging Entrepreneurs
This year’s participants include a cultural tourism business, a wood boat kit manufacturer, a bee keeper, a construction business, a chocolatier, a tiny homes builder, a food truck, a dog boarding business, a permaculture farm, a stump grinder, a nature-inspired fitness company, a sustainable vegetable and hog producer, and a manufacturer of art equipment. All are “triple-bottom-line” businesses from coastal communities in Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Clallam Counties and designed to generate profits with significant social and environmental benefits.
Coast Works will evaluate each business concept not only on whether it will be profitable, but also on how it will contribute to conservation and sustainable use of local natural resources, whether its revenue will stay within the local economy, and how it will contribute to the development of local business leadership and community self-determination.
Emily Foster, with the other winners from last year, receiving her prize money for her fish smoking business.
Triple Win: Economic, Social and Environmental
Coast Works communities are situated in one of the most beautiful regions of the world. However, over-reliance on extractive industries and a lack of economic diversity has led to high unemployment, poverty, and out-migration.
Coast Works participants will:
- start businesses that contribute to their financial self-sufficiency and diversify the local economy
- build entrepreneurial capacity and business leadership in local communities
- grow a constituency that supports conservation and sustainable natural resource use
- create a new vision of sustainable community economic development on the Washington Coast
To learn more about Washington Coast Works visit our website or Facebook page
Coast Works has been established by The Nature Conservancy, in collaboration with Enterprise for Equity, the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship and the Taala Fund, and funded in part by the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Business Development Grant. The competition is open to applicants starting new businesses in Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Clallam Counties, including the tribal communities of Neah Bay, La Push, Hoh, Queets and Taholah, as well as other rural communities, and the cities of Forks, Ocean Shores, Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Montesano, Cosmopolis and Westport.
