A firm begun by a member of the Winona Lake, Ind., Grace Brethren Church (Bruce Barlow, lead pastor), and her business partner, is a finalist in a national business challenge. Marna Pacheco of Winona Lake, Ind., and Susan Hickok of Fort Wayne, Ind., and their company, CapeAble Sensory Products LLC, will compete for awards totaling $70,000 on Oct. 26 at the National Pitch Competition in Washington, D.C. A portion of a report on the upcoming competition appeared in yesterday’s Fort Wayne Journal Gazette appears below. Click here for the complete article.
Local firm national finalist: Owners headed to DC for InnovateHER competition
Two northeast Indiana business executives are finalists in a national InnovateHER Business Challenge the U.S. Small Business Administration is sponsoring.
Marna Pacheco of Winona Lake and Susan Hickok of Fort Wayne and their company, CapeAble Sensory Products LLC, will compete for awards totaling $70,000 on Oct. 26 at the National Pitch Competition in Washington, D.C.
The SBA announced 10 finalists last week, according to a news release Monday from the Northeast Indiana Small Business Development Center.
The prize money is a gift from the Sara Blakely Foundation. Expenses for Pacheco and Hickok’s trip are being paid by local sponsoring organizations.
CapeAble Sensory Products in Fort Wayne produces weighted blankets for better sleep, fashionable weighted wearables and sensory-enrichment tools. The company’s products have a patent-pending design based on the “science behind the comfort” to help people with stress, autism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, chemotherapy and other conditions or circumstances, according to its website.
“We were beyond thrilled and excited and very honored to have been chosen,” Pacheco said Monday afternoon. “We can’t wait to head to D.C. and hopefully come back with a win for our community.”
Click here for the complete article.