The New Jersey VegFest, founded in Morristown by Kendra Arnold and Marisa Sweeney, needs your help to win the $10,000 Start Something Challenge, a statewide competition that encourages small-business owners to expand their markets through social-media.
First, the New Jersey VegFest ladies must garner as many views as possible on their 30- second video by July 7, 2017.
If they land in the top six in their category, they will advance to round two, an online poll.
If that is successful, Arnold and Sweeney will make an eight-minute pitch to a panel of judges in Jersey City.
The New Jersey VegFest premiered in October 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Morristown, to a sold out crowd that sampled vegan food from local chefs and restaurants.
Since then, the venture has expanded to include monthly vegan pop-up shops at Morristown’s Laundromat bar. The next one is this Sunday, June 25, from noon to 6.
Two vegan pop-up shops are scheduled for the Asbury Park Convention Hall later this summer, and a two-day event is set for the Meadowlands Expo Center on Oct. 7-8.
Looking ahead to July 2018, a vegan food fest at Atlantic City’s Showboat Hotel promises vegan food from a wide selection of East Coast vendors, along with a 10K race on the boardwalk and a podcast festival with vegan radio show hosts and guests. More on that is here and here.
Arnold is a frequent contributor to MorristownGreen.com and formerly of Bike & Walk Morristown. Sweeney is a dietician who owns Be Well and chairs the Morristown Women in Business.
They sensed an unmet demand for vegan food, and the public’s positive response encouraged them to ramp up their efforts.
“What we’ve discovered along the way is that these vegan events support hundreds of small businesses in New Jersey and the region, by giving them a marketplace for selling, and also just by sharing with their community of followers where to find vegan food, and by applauding their successes,” Arnold said.
New Jersey VegFest also showcases and supports nonprofits, including farm sanctuaries and animal welfare organizations, Arnold said.
What will Arnold and Sweeney Start if they win the prize money?
They’re not saying just yet. But we’re betting it’s Something tasty.
Aveho is also in that completion, and is also a Morristown company