Craft Cannery Wins $500,000 at Grow-NY Global Food and Agriculture Business Competition
$3 million in prizes awarded to seven winning companies to conclude two-day Grow-NY Food and Ag Summit
ITHACA, N.Y. (Nov. 17, 2022) – Governor Kathy Hochul today announced Craft Cannery as a winner of $500,000 at its fourth annual Grow-NY business competition, an innovation and technology startup challenge focused on enhancing the emerging food, beverage, and agriculture hub in Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier regions of New York state. Craft Cannery was one of seven finalists to take home prize money at the conclusion of the two-day Grow-NY Food and Ag Summit held in Syracuse, New York on Nov. 15 and 16. The Grow-NY competition is funded by Empire State Development and administered by Cornell University.
“This is a win for all entrepreneurs, aspiring and established,” said CEO of Craft Cannery Paul Guglielmo. “If you have a dream of bottling that famous family recipe, or own a restaurant and are looking for a brand extension, or are a regional brand in need of flex capacity from your co-packer, you just won big at Grow-NY.”
20 finalists pitched their business plans to a live audience and panel of judges during the Summit held at the Oncenter in Syracuse. The event attracted nearly 900 attendees and featured more than 60 food and agricultural displays in an Ecosystem Expo, along with an enriching symposium of panel sessions tackling some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the agrifood system in Upstate New York and throughout the Northeast.
“I’m incredibly proud of Paul, our team, and everyone who helped us prepare for this competition,” said Craft Cannery co-owner Tom Riggio. “Grow-NY had already helped us in so many ways, simply in the past couple of months, and to see it end like this is a true cherry-on-top. Simply being nominated was an honor. This investment will allow us to continue our already established impressive growth trajectory.”
Grow-NY awarded a total of $3 million in prize money, including a $1 million grand prize, two $500,000 awards, and four $250,000 prizes. Upon accepting the award, winners commit to making a quantifiable, enduring regional impact in Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier during a 12 -month period of agreement, creating lasting economic opportunity in the region.
“This prize money will give us the opportunity to expand our physical footprint in Bergen, hire additional staff, and purchase equipment to take on more clients,” Guglielmo added. “Our clients are inventors who have already begun the complicated puzzle of operating a food business. We often hold those final few puzzle pieces necessary for it to all come together, and bring their invention to market. That, is innovation.
Judges based award decisions on the following five criteria:
· The viability of the startup’s business model
· The diversity, quality, completeness, and readiness of the startup team
· The value that the startup offers customers
· The agrifood innovation that that the startup has invented
· The job growth and opportunity potential that the startup can bring to the region
During a 10-week acceleration phase leading up to the competition, all finalists received dedicated mentorship from hand-selected regional business advisors. This mentorship included pitch training to hone live presentation skills, along with an expenses-paid, multi-day business development trip to the Grow-NY region. The trip allowed finalists to meet with potential partners, customers, manufacturers, and producers. In December, Grow-NY winners will begin executing their business plans in the region, leveraging the connections they made during their business development trips to deliver on the economic development milestones they pitched at the event.
“I want to make sure that our mentor, Eric Mozdy, who works for Corning as a day job, receives the credit that he deserves for guiding us to this win,” Guglielmo added. “I am certain that without Eric, we would not be where we are today. His brilliance and familiarity with the competition was our secret weapon.”
Grow-NY is an unprecedented business competition focused on enhancing the emerging food and agriculture innovation cluster present in Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier. For the fourth-consecutive year, Grow-NY broke its record for applications, attracting 390 applicants from 25 different states and 52 countries around the world.
“Grow-NY finalists and winners continue to surpass our expectations on all fronts, successfully leveraging the strengths of the region to scale their ventures, adding jobs, attracting investment, and reinforcing New York’s role as a global agrifood leader,” said Jenn Smith, Program Director, Grow-NY. “I offer my most enthusiastic congratulations to this year’s winners.”
Empire State Development funds the Grow-NY competition through its Upstate Revitalization Initiative (URI), CNY Rising, Finger Lakes Forward, and Southern Tier Soaring. Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement administers the competition. All winners will work to make a positive economic impact in the Grow-NY region, which consists of 22 counties that serve as home to vibrant farmlands, abundant freshwater, and several rising cities, including Rochester, Syracuse, Ithaca, Geneva, and Binghamton. The winning businesses will help foster job growth, connect with local industry partners, and contribute to a thriving economy.
To learn more about the winners, mentors and judges, and plans for year five of the competition, visit grow-ny.com.
About Empire State Development
Empire State Development (ESD) promotes a vigorous and growing state economy, encourages business investment and job creation, and supports diverse, prosperous local economies across New York State through the efficient use of loans, grants, tax credits, real estate development, marketing and other forms of assistance. To learn more about ESD visit https://esd.ny.gov.
About the Cornell Center for Regional Economic Advancement
The Cornell Center for Regional Economic Advancement (CREA) supports economic impact in Upstate New York through entrepreneurship and innovation. We help people advance ideas that will create jobs in all fields in our region, to enrich the area’s economic diversity. To learn more, visit https://crea.cornell.edu.
