A bakery and cafe, a business catering to pets and pet owners and a massage and wellness clinic will be the newest businesses to open or expand on Main Street following the Launch Gloucester awards ceremony on Tuesday, May 19.  Participants in the entrepreneur contest that launched earlier this year also got a surprise element when the Cook Foundation granted a $5,00 award to the sole business in the competition with an arts  component.  Three winners, and the fourth that won the Cook Foundation prize, were among 10 businesses whittled down from an original field that exceeded 40 when Launch Gloucester got under way last year.  The entrepreneurs vied for a combined value of $95,000 in good, services and start-up capital to launch a business on Main Street.

The Launch Gloucester program was one of three in the state that are part of Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s Virginia Community Business Launch initiative, managed by DHCD.

Hopewell and Staunton will be announcing their winners in the next few weeks, so be on the lookout.

How-to-apply workshops are being conducted in the next two weeks for the 2016 Community Business Launch application.