NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Lever is expanding its Challenge programming with the new Bennington Intrapreneur Challenge, which will award $25,000 to an established Bennington County company with an innovative idea designed to grow revenue. 

 

Lever's Intrapreneur Challenges are built for employees within established companies who are "innovating from within," using entrepreneurial methods on ideas that create new revenue streams. The Bennington Intrapreneur Challenge is open to any Bennington County company with more than $500K in annual revenue; proposed innovations must be aimed at growing revenue, not reducing costs. 

 

 The deadline to apply is December 10. Apply at https://leverinc.org/bennington-intrapreneur-challenge-2021.

 

Representatives from participating companies will attend a series of workshops around topics like finance and marketing for their ideas, and will work with a group of mentors to refine their strategies and pitches. The Challenge will culminate with a final pitch event in March 2021, where a panel of expert judges will declare one $25,000 winner. Mentors are John Antonucci of LaunchVT; Michael Cushman, formerly at St. Gobain and now retired; Shari Siegel of Ranieri Partners; and Jeffrey Thomas, Lever's Executive Director.

 

 "It's exciting to bring Lever's Challenge programs to Bennington County," said Thomas. Our Berkshire County Intrapreneur Challenges have helped a dozen companies to generate millions in aggregate revenues. We expect a similar impact in Bennington County.