Kavana Bees awarded $5K in Momentum 5×5 Competition

August 14, 2024

PERE MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP — Kavana Bees won the Momentum 5×5 Business Pitch Competition at Epworth Heights on Tuesday, Aug. 13, following presentations by five finalists. Epworth provided the $5,000 prize to the winner as a way to give back to the community and encourage business growth.

Certified holistic nutritionist and beekeeper Candace Casados explained that her business will sell healthy, thriving young colonies to local beekeepers, provide pollination services to small-scale local farms and orchards, and create value-added health and body care products from what bees produce naturally (wax, propolis and honey). Ultimately, Casados said she will use every aspect of beekeeping and what the bees create for the benefit of people in the community in need of natural products and services. 

The prize money will ensure that Kavana Bees will have adequate funds to purchase containers, packaging, and marketing materials necessary to meet the demand of projected fall 2024/spring 2025 sales, Casados said.

Other finalists in the competition were HarborFit Studio, Nectar Juice Co., Sudsy Shindigz, and Traveling Sage LLC. Each contender had five minutes to pitch a new business idea and/or tell how they would use the prize money at their business.

In addition to a cash prize, Kavana Bees will receive in-kind gifts from Epworth, including advertising and business representation at events.

The Momentum 5×5 Pitch Competition is an annual event administered by the Chamber Alliance of Mason County, held in partnership with Epworth Heights, a private, seasonal resort along Lake Michigan.

As the Momentum 5×5 winner, Kavana Bees will now be in the Top 10 for the 2025 Momentum Business Plan Competition, coming next spring.

Please Support Local News

Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news. 

The easiest way is to sign up for an automatic monthly payment on Paypal. Click this link.

Alternative methods:

  • We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).

We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.

If you would like to support MCP/OCP but do not wish to receive daily emails, please consider sending a contribution to any of the above methods or pay by Venmo (@masoncountypress).

_____

This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2024, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.

As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.

Please consider helping to fund local news. Mason County Press and Oceana County Press are available for free thanks to the generous support of our advertisers and individuals. Three ways to help us: Venmo: @MasonCountyPress; Paypal: MasonCountyPress@gmail.com; Mail a check to PO BOX 21, Scottville, MI 49454.

fb.com/stars