Aspiring entrepreneurs honored at Brooklyn Public Library’s PowerUP! awards
Brooklyn Public Library’s 14th annual PowerUP! Business Plan Competition awarded more than $30,000 to aspiring entrepreneurs at an awards ceremony Monday evening, December 11.
This year’s first-place winner, Jared Moldonado, was chosen by a panel of business owners, nonprofit leaders and academics from a pool of 66 entries and 12 total finalists. Moldonado was awarded a $15,000 prize as the founder of Catch-A-Ride, a bus service that will connect Brooklyn to cities in the northeast such as Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Runners-up included Joshua Bloodworth and Victor Hunt for Paragon, an online marketplace to connect building managers with contractors to compare and track bids, and Michele Weisman for Meet the Writers, a program to bring authors and illustrators into underserved schools. Each received $5,000, while five other participants received $1,000 awards.