Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union has announced the Idea Leap Grant semifinalists for 2020.
“We know that this year is certainly unprecedented,” said Tommy Nix, vice president of business and commercial services. “In early April, we distributed the funds that were allocated for this year’s in-person Pitch Night to existing Idea Leap loan members. These funds assisted 80 small businesses during a very difficult time. This was well before PPP loans. We felt this was the right decision to make. However, we still want to help small businesses and we have identified funding for a Virtual Idea Leap Grant Pitch Night.”
Past Idea Leap Grant participants who didn’t place in the top five in 2018 and 2019 were eligible to participate in the Third Annual Idea Leap Grant. They simply created a 5-minute video about why their business should receive an Idea Leap Grant.
The community’s help is needed to identify the People’s Choice Finalist. Visit tvfcu.com’s Idea Leap Grant page under the “Business” tab to see the semifinalist videos. You can also find the videos on TVFCU’s Facebook page page and TVFCU’s YouTube page. Watch the videos and then cast a vote for a favorite semifinalist by texting the corresponding text code to 223-33. Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday.
The semifinalist with the most votes at 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday will be named the People’s Choice Finalist.
The independent, volunteer grant selection committee will select the other two finalists. Then three finalists will compete for one of three grants valued at $10,000, $7,000 and $3,000.
Tune in for TVFCU’s Virtual Pitch Night during Startup Week Chattanooga on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 6:30 p.m. ET. The event will be streamed on TVFCU’s Facebook page and YouTube.