Gray-new Gloucester Opens ‘shark Tank’-style Pitch Competition

The Gray-New Gloucester Development Corp. hopes to attract entrepreneurs to the area with a “Shark Tank”-style business pitch competition that will award a $10,000 forgivable loan to the winner. Contestants in the Grow GNG competition must submit a plan to open or expand a business in Gray or New Gloucester and be willing to commit $10,000 of their own money in it, said the development group’s president, Tracy Scheckel. Scheckel said Grow GNG is modeled after similar competitions in Maine, such as Biddeford’s downtown revitalization initiative, Heart of Biddeford, but it differs in that the winner of Grow GNG may locate the business in any part of either Gray or New Gloucester. Tracy Scheckel of the Gray New Gloucester Development Corp. The winner of the competition will be awarded a $10,000 forgivable loan, and about $7,000 worth of in-kind professional services ranging from legal advice to interior design, one year of phone and Internet service, photography services, Web consulting and three months of free rent. For the loan to be forgiven, the winner must meet certain milestones such as opening the business by May 2017 and hiring the equivalent of two full-time employees within three years of operation. Other requirements include periodic financial reporting to the development group, making timely interest-only payments on the loan, and regular consultations with a business mentor, Scheckel said. “The point is, we want them to succeed,” she said. Any type of business may enter the contest, she said.