On Thursday, Oct. 10, three hopefuls presented their businesses to more than 30 community judges, all competing for $40,000 in start-up capital at Ivy Tech Fort Wayne & Warsaw’s 2024 New Venture Competition.

They each had 10 minutes to persuade the judges that their business could offer solutions to what they viewed as local problems. In the end, only one could take home the New Venture trophy.

So Cute Sweets

43 year-old Laura Read has been enriching the Kosciusko County sweets scene with her business, So Cute Sweets, a venture that has crowned her the 2024 champion.

“This opens up a whole world of possibilities,” Read says. “There are so many more options now for me to make my business better for my customers. I know they’ll appreciate it just as much as I do.”

Since 2019, Read has gone around to farmers markets selling her specialty cake pops and other chocolate desserts. She also creates one to two custom orders a week for events like graduation open houses and birthday parties. With the $40,000, Read plans to get out of her home kitchen and into a licensed one, which will give her business the chance to expand.

“I have been contacted by a few coffee shops around who would like to have my cake pops featured in their shop, but because I’m just a home-based vendor, I can’t do wholesale yet.”

Read holds an associate degree in hospitality administration from Ivy Tech Fort Wayne and graduated from the entrepreneurship program in May 2024. At the ceremony, she carried in the Garatoni School of Entrepreneurship & Innovation’s flag as the School’s Outstanding Student.

Ginny Rose Studio

29-year-old owner of Ginny Rose Studio, Ginny Ritchie, came in second in the competition. Her business occupies a building in LaGrange County, specializing in full body waxing, custom facials, massages, and permanent makeup.

“I’m the only esthetician in LaGrange County,” Ritchie says. “I want to continue to build with the services that I already offer and to be able to offer new services.”

Her business has garnered a following in the three years since it opened, but her sight is continuously set on expanding. She hopes to eventually introduce more services to her studio like an oxygen bar, lip blush, and permanent jewelry.

Soupy, LLC.

Soupy LLC. was an idea that spawned from 32-year-old Jordan Walter-Lee Setter’s experience in the military. It’s a veteran owned and operated food truck business that aims to serve its customers healthy, affordable, and convenient soups and sandwiches.

“Soup became a passion of mine when I was in basic training,” Setters explained. “I was overweight, and I had to fight to make the standard weight. The advice I was given was to eat more soup. Every day for two months, I ate soup and bread—not only did I meet the standard weight, I never felt ill.”

Setters hopes to sell a variety of soups and breads out of a food truck and travel to different factories around Fort Wayne.

About the competition

“Use this as a stepping stone for what’s to come next,” 2022 New Venture Champion Javier Gasnerez III, owner of Let It Glow Detail, LLC., encouraged contestants before the pitches. “To say this [competition] had an impact on my business is a slight understatement. It had a huge impact.”

Students and alumni are eligible to compete in the New Venture Competition after successfully completing a certificate from the Garatoni School of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Ivy Tech Fort Wayne and Warsaw.

The New Venture Competition began in 2011 through the vision of Dave and Mary Bear, former owners of JB Tool, Die & Engineering. ProFed Credit Union sponsored the evening’s dinner, which was prepared by the College’s Hospitality Administration.

To learn more about the New Venture Competition and the Entrepreneurship program at Ivy Tech, request information at link.ivytech.edu/beyourownboss.