Mike Townley, the CEO and president of Bob Evans Farms said the program was launched last year to help support business-owners who served their country. Heroes to CEOs is part of a company-wide Our Farm Salutes initiative, which began in 2016 as a way to say thanks to veterans, and their families.
“As we saw last year with our amazing winners, veterans have innovative ideas but sometimes have trouble getting started,” said Mike Townsley, “Learning how to run a business and securing the required financing can be a challenge. We’re beyond proud of what veterans accomplish.”
A panel of judges will score each of the entries based on reason, presentation, feasibility, opportunity and potential for success. The 10 best entries will then advance to a celebrity panel, including last year’s winners, for an additional round of scoring.
Last year’s winners include Carson Goodale, of FanFood, a Chicago-based company, who developed an app that allows event attendees to order concession food from their seats. Winners also included Jerry Martin of Arkansas-based vegetable farm VetVeggies, and Charlynsa Scales of Mutts Sauce, a Dayton, Ohio, barbecue sauce company
The winners will be announced Sept. 5.