Bay entrepreneur plans to donate funds
By
Mar 8, 2013, 23:20
Voting hasn’t even begun yet, but Cypress Cafe owner Holly Lemoine-Raymond said this week that if she wins the nationwide “How I Built My Business” video contest, she plans to donate the funds to local causes.
“The community gave to me when I opened this business,” she said, “so I want to give back to the community.”
The Mississippi office of the National Federation of Independent Business announced last week that Lemoine-Raymond was one of nine finalists in the contest.
The finalists will compete for a $5,000 grand prize in online voting that begins Tuesday and ends March 18 at www.NFIB.com/stories.
Last month, entrepreneurs from across the country submitted videos explaining how they started their businesses. The contest was open to any independently-owned business with fewer than 500 employees incorporated or organized in the United States. The finalists were chosen by a panel and received a one-year membership to NFIB. Entries were judged based on creativity and originality.
“I can’t believe I was a finalist,” Lemoine-Raymond said. “My video was very raw – it was done in, literally, one hour.”
She only found out about the contest a day before the deadline to enter.
Watch Lemoine-Raymond's video at: http://www.nfib.com/stories/submissions?id=2195944551001
