Local business owner receives $5,000 grant

GUELPH - Local business owner, Christine Gayfer, has received a $5,000 grant for her business, Wishy-Washy Cloth.

On Dec. 5, Gayfer won the grant through a pitch competition - the culmination of the Business Centre of Guelph-Wellington’s Starter Company Plus program.

Previous winners include Pressed for Time Paninis, Life Voice Canada and Uprooted Farm.

“I am extremely grateful for this award and for the faith the judges had in my product, which is desperately needed by our planet,”  Gayfer said.

She plans to use the grant money to purchase industrial cutting equipment to increase production efficiency, allowing her to expand to offer her product on a wholesale basis.

Gayfer has also been accepted into Innovation Guelph’s Rhyze Ventures program for women-entrepreneurs, beginning in January. The Starter Company Plus Program is available to eligible local business owners through the Business Centre of Guelph-Wellington.

It includes a series of workshops, one-on-one mentoring from a business advisor, assistance in creating a comprehensive business plan and the opportunity to pitch the business for a chance to be awarded one of several $5,000 grants.

Business owners present their pitches to a group of three to four judges, experienced local business people, who have the difficult job of deciding to whom to grant the awards.

Wishy-Washy Cloth, committed to “Making your period just a little bit fabulous,” provides Canadian women with cloth menstrual pads, made in Guelph and Rockwood.

Each year, Canadian women throw out over 1 billion paper and plastic menstrual products, equivalent to more than an Olympic-sized swimming pool in volume.

Sold online, Wishy-Washy Cloth aims to be the superior, planet-friendly alternative.