Fifth Round of Ratcliffe Shore Hatchery Presentations Set Friday, October 23

SALISBURY, MD---The fifth round of a five-year, $1 million program to create new jobs begins Friday, October 23, at Salisbury University as entrepreneurs vie for a portion of $200,000 in business funding.

In 2013, the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation announced the $1 million gift to SU’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business to establish The Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation Shore Hatchery. Its goal: to fund entrepreneurs and have new businesses opening within six months, with the potential of employing  three or more within a year.

Each year for the next three years, up to $200,000 will be available for those applying for grants through the Shore Hatchery program. Shore Hatchery board of directors members select recipients based on multi-round presentations.

Some 18 applicants representing various geographic territories and business sectors will compete in the fifth round of grants in a Shark Tank/Gull Cage contest that morning, delivering elevator pitches to the judges.

Those moving on to the business case round, tentatively scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. in Perdue Hall’s Bennett Family Auditorium, give more thorough presentations. Winners are expected to be announced at approximately 6 p.m., followed by a reception.

Ratcliffe Shore Hatchery board members include Jim Perdue of Perdue Farms, Dave Rommel and Mike Cottingham of Rommel Holdings, Frank Gunion of South Moon Under, Jennifer Layton of Layton’s Chance Vineyards and Winery, Bruce Rogers of Sherwood of Salisbury, Katherine Kiernan of APPI Energy and Sandy Fitzgerald-Angello of Pohanka Automotive, among others.

Admission to the afternoon presentations is free and the public is invited. For more information call 410-543-6316 or visit the Perdue School website at www.salisbury.edu/perdue.