Smith Market wins $25,000 prize in Community Foundation’s Impact Opportunity Challenge

UTICA, N.Y. — The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties, Inc. has selected Smith Market as the winner of its $25,000 Impact Opportunity Challenge.

The market was one of five finalists to pitch their idea for an “innovative business concept” for downtown Utica to a panel of judges on Wednesday, the Community Foundation said in a news release issued Friday.

The market will operate at 412 Main Street in Utica in the previous D.B. Smith & Co. building.

Smith Market will offer organic and locally grown produce, flowers, chemical-free groceries, natural body care and eco-friendly household products.

It intends to meet the “growing demand” for a natural food store and year-round local market in the downtown community, the Community Foundation said.

“Our focus is to be local with our products and with our efforts,” co-owner Luciann Gould said in the Community Foundation news release. “This is an idea that has evolved in me for years. I grow gardens and frequent [local] markets. I talk to farmers and learn everything there is to know about the food – how it is produced, how the animals are raised and what the animals are fed. For years, I have often wondered why we didn’t have [a health-food store] in Utica and now we will!”

Gould and co-owner Christopher Tillotson plan to invest the award money in new equipment, shelving, and furniture for the market, according to the news release.

Entrepreneurs like Gould and Tillotson are an “inspiration” because they’ve found a way to “integrate their personal passions into their careers,” Alicia Dicks, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties, said in the news release.

“The Impact Opportunity Challenge was a new and creative way for the Community Foundation to promote economic development in our region and allowed us to work with dozens of local entrepreneurs with big ideas for our community. We’re confident that many of the Challenge participants will be a part of downtown Utica’s continuing transformation, adding to the vibrancy and success of our urban core,” said Dicks.

The Community Foundation’s corporate partners made the Impact Opportunity Challenge possible, the nonprofit said in its news release.

The Impact Opportunity Challenge was open to startups and early-stage businesses with an “innovative business concept” for one of four Utica neighborhoods: Downtown, Bagg’s Square, Brewery District, or Bleecker/East District.

Entrepreneurs submitted 58 applications to the Community Foundation, which accepted 33 into the Challenge contest.

To help applicants throughout the Challenge, the Community Foundation partnered with Mohawk Valley Community College’s (MVCC) thINCubator to coach and mentor applicants.

MVCC’s thINCubator offers “accelerated” programming that gives aspiring entrepreneurs the resources “needed to make their vision a reality – from ideation to development to deployment,” according to the news release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com