BRATTLEBORO >> For the third consecutive year, FreshTracks Road Pitch will take place during the first week in August.
Road Pitch is a five-day motorcycle tour of Vermont in which a gang of "business bikers" (comprised of investors, entrepreneurs and business advisors) ride around the state and stop in 10 towns to listen to entrepreneurs pitch their business concepts. This year, the tour will stop in Brattleboro, as well as Essex Junction, Rutland, Bennington, Barre, Randolph, St. Johnsbury, Lowell, Hyde Park and Grand Isle.
The Road Pitch website: www.roadpitch.co has a detailed listing of the dates and times for each event. The events are free and open to the public. The riders will be in Brattleboro on Aug. 2 at 3:30 p.m. at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden on Main Street.
Come cheer on your local entrepreneurs as they compete for the coveted "Riders' Choice Award" consisting of $500 and a special edition "Vermont Biker Bear" contributed by Vermont Teddy Bear. In Barre, Hyde Park and Lowell, the local organizers are enhancing the prize package with additional prize money and products. The Riders Choice winner from each town will be invited to a final statewide "Pitch-Off" event where they will pitch for a grand prize of $4,000 and a year's worth of mentoring from the Road Pitch Riders. The Pitch-Off is sponsored by and held at Champlain College.
"We are able to offer these prizes through the generous sponsorship provided by Vermont Department of Economic Development, Champlain College, Burlington Bytes, Key Bank, Gallagher Flynn and Company, Vermont Small Business Development Center, Dinse, Vermont Business Magazine, Moulton Law Group, DesignBook, Milk Money, Merritt and Merritt, North Country Angel Group, Champlain Mini Makers Faire, LaunchVT, and Vermont Teddy Bear" said Cairn Cross, Road Pitch Founder and Co-Founder of FreshTracks Capital. "Each of these sponsors plays a key role in the statewide entrepreneurial ecosystem and we are happy for their support."
This year Road Pitch will again have the Twitter handle @ThisisVT. Twitter users can follow the event as it makes its way around the state by following the @ThisisVT Twitter stream. This year the rider group numbers 50 different riders and the riders expect to listen to 50 pitches from a wide variety of Vermont entrepreneurial companies including food and beverage product companies, software companies, advanced manufacturing companies, natural product companies, and clothing companies.
The goals of Road Pitch are to connect Vermont entrepreneurs to resources such as capital and advice, advocate for entrepreneurs throughout the state, help entrepreneurs polish and refine their pitching skills, showcase entrepreneurship through a highly visible annual event, find investible opportunities for private investors and source capital for entrepreneurial businesses, and promote motorcycle touring in Vermont while having fun and riding safely.
This year while touring the state, the rider group will hand out 1,000 Vermont Brownie Company Brownies during the week with a Share the Road riding safety and motorcycle awareness message.
