Spruce Root announces the winners of the 2022 Path to Prosperity competition
Dzantik'i Heeni (Juneau, Alaska) ~ Two Southeast Alaska tourism businesses – Costa Brava, Bakery & Pâtisserie and New Earth Fungi – have been selected as the winners of the 2022 Path to Prosperity Competition. Each winner will be awarded $25,000 to grow their businesses. To commemorate their achievements, each will receive a Tlingit wall carving, hand-crafted by Brian Chilton, as part of the formal winners' announcement at the 2022 Mid-Session Summit hosted by Southeast Conference on Tuesday, January 31st.
“This year’s winners have demonstrated incredible businesses with clear plans to increase jobs in their communities, provide meaningful experiences for visitors, and operate with respect to the natural environment, ” says Competition Administrator Izzy Haywood. “It has been a joy to work with them throughout the process of this competition and I look forward to seeing how the award funding allows them to continue to grow and enrich our region.”
Costa Brava, Bakery & Pâtisserie, is a high-end pastry shop specializing in custom wedding cakes, celebration cakes, and pastries that draw inspiration from Spanish and French cuisine, culture, and aesthetics. It is owned and operated by Rebecca Kameika (kah-MAY-kah) who moved to Haines in 2019 and founded the bakery in the summer of 2020, driven by a lifelong passion for baking. The bakery brings artistic expression and creativity into the kitchen to create unique and sophisticated designs and flavors like no other in remote, small-town Alaska.
Rebecca Kameika of Costa Brava, Bakery & Patisserie, left, and Alannah Johnson of New Earth Fungi show wall carvings made by Tlingit artist Brian Chilton, which they were awarded along with $25,000 each to grow their business as part of winning Spruce Root’s Path to Prosperity Business Competition, announced during the Southeast Conference’s Mid-Session Summit on Tuesday, January 31, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Marc Wheeler/Spruce Root)
New Earth Fungi, owned by Alannah (ah-LAW-nah) Johnson, is a small Gourmet and Medicinal Mushroom Farm located in Juneau, Alaska. Their products include locally cultivated mushrooms that are offered fresh, dried, or in medicinal tonics. Not only are their fresh mushrooms offered at grocery stores in town, but they are also sold to local restaurants, where visitors get to enjoy them and have the chance to purchase dried mushrooms or tonics to take home with them. New Earth Fungi also offers local mushroom foraging tours and cultivation workshops where locals and visitors alike can learn about the rich mycological ecosystems of Juneau.
“Both of this year’s businesses represent the values of regenerative tourism by providing products and services that benefit the community as well as elevate the experience of visitors who come into our region,” Spruce Root Executive Director Alana (ah-LAY-nah) Peterson said. “Small businesses like this are able to exist because of the economic influx from visitors, and they can operate year-round, providing highly valued services and products for their communities. Spruce Root is excited to be supporting the shift around tourism in our region to one that is regenerative, that is an industry based on the values of the people in this place and the expectation that visitors and the visitor industry can uphold those values along with us.”
The winners and representatives from Spruce Root will be available for interviews during the 2022 Mid-Session Summit hosted by Southeast Conference on Tuesday. Please contact Spruce Root Communications Specialist Tripp J Crouse for more information by calling 907 306 6475 or emailing tripp@spruceroot.org.
Independent judges selected these two winners from a cohort of 12 finalists who participated in Path to Prosperity’s three-day in-person Business Boot Camp in October in Juneau. At Business Boot Camp, the entrepreneurs learned about triple-bottom-line principles, worked with mentors, and received one-on-one consulting to develop their business models and plans. Following this intensive business training weekend, the finalists spent two months working with Spruce Root business coaches to create thorough business plans and pitch videos to be submitted to the judges. The winners were selected based on the feasibility, social impact, and environmental sustainability of their businesses.
This program is supported by The Edgerton Foundation; Sealaska; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Opportunity Finance Network; The Nature Conservancy; Wells Fargo; Oweesta; Sustainable Southeast Partnership; Jump/Scale; The Avista Foundation; Alaska Brewing Co.; Elgee Rehfeld; Kensington Mine; Southeast Conference and AK Litho. Spruce Root is grateful for these contributions.
For 10 years, more than 312 businesses and start-ups in 23 Southeast Alaska communities applied to Path to Prosperity. The program trained 119 finalists at Business Boot Camp and awarded 21 winners a total of $660,000 to build their local businesses.
All participants are trained in the “triple-bottom-line” approach to building a business by learning to measure their profitability, as well as the environmental and social impacts of their business.
Previous competition winners include Skyaana Coffee Co. (Klawock), Barnacle Foods (Juneau), Foundroot (Haines), Coastal Heating and Repair (Yakutat), Icy Straits Lumber (Hoonah), and many more. Path to Prosperity is a Spruce Root program. Spruce Root provides local entrepreneurs with access to business development and financial resources in the form of loan capital, business coaching, workshops, and competitions. Together, these programs support both new and existing businesses in Southeast Alaska and empower business owners through increased self-sufficiency. Regenerative tourism is a holistic approach to tourism that proactively works to improve ecosystems, elevate local economies, and promote meaningful and responsible visitor experiences. Authentic local representation, deep community involvement, and practical and innovative steps for conserving and enhancing the environment are central to this approach.
In 2023, the format of the Path to Prosperity competition will be shifting from the traditional 10-month cycle to Path to Prosperity Business & Balance, a nine-week course that will be held twice per year. In this new evolution of the program, participants will complete an online course focused on building a business that is in line with their values and then will have the option to apply for award funding. Applications for Path to Prosperity Business & Balance will open on February 13th. To learn more about Path to Prosperity or Spruce Root’s other services, visit our website at www.spruceroot.org or email grow@spruceroot.org.
For media availability and interview requests, please contact Spruce Root Communications Specialist Tripp J Crouse for more information by calling 907 306 6475 or emailing tripp@spruceroot.org.