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September 10, 2018

Portland woman named SCORE's 'Outstanding Young Entrepreneur'

Courtesy / SCORE Maddie Purcell, founder of Fyood Kitchen, is the winner of the Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Small Business award at the SCORE Foundation's annual national award ceremony.
By Maureen Milliken

Portland entrepreneur Maddie Purcell, founder of Fyood Kitchen, was named winner of the Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Small Business award at the SCORE Foundation’s annual national award ceremony.

Purcell will receive her award Thursday at a Washington, D.C., ceremony along with 12 other small business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as two members of Congress.

SCORE is the nation’s largest network of volunteer expert business mentors. The SCORE Foundation supports and leverages the work of SCORE by soliciting, investing and managing resources for the benefit of SCORE, according to a news release about the annual awards.

Purcell’s Fyood Kitchen is also a finalist in SCORE’s 2018 American Small Business Championship, along with Dental Lace, owned by Jodi Breau, of Cape Elizabeth. The three grand prize winners in that competition will be named in December.

Purcell started her business in 2016, inspired by the TV show “Chopped,” which requires contestants to make meals out of a variety of ingredients. Her story and how SCORE helped are described on a page on the organization’s website.

Fyood Kitchen puts amateur cooking competitions and in the the past six months, has pivoted from primarily hosting open events to throwing private “Fyoods” for birthdays and wedding parties, as well as providing creative team-building events for corporate groups and small companies, Purcell said.

She said one of the things she’s proud of is that she’s been able to “give my customers an incredible connection and creative opportunity — empowering and inspiring them.” Purcell adds, “To see folks come in unsure of their abilities to cook without a recipe and leave feeling like they’ve conquered the experience is pretty magical.”

Purcell’s SCORE mentors were Nancy J. Strojny, Jewel Church and Jamieson Webking.

The awards ceremony for the foundation’s annual SCORE awards will stream live on the SCORE mentors Facebook page at 7 p.m. Thursday.

SCORE awards celebrate 10 years

Other awards include: Outstanding Diverse Business, Outstanding Community Impact Business, Outstanding Encore Entrepreneur, Outstanding Military-Owned Business, Outstanding Woman-Owned Business, Outstanding Self-Employed Entrepreneur, Outstanding Young Entrepreneur, Outstanding Agriculture Small Business, Outstanding American Manufacturing Small Business, Outstanding Retail Small Business and Outstanding Tech and Innovative Small Business.

The only other winner from New England is Drew’s Honeybees, owned by Drew Burnett of Norwich, Conn., which won the agricultural business award.

Awards are also given to the Senate Small Business Champion, who this year was U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas, and the House Small Business Champion, who is U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C.

Resa Kierstein, vice president of development for SCORE, in a news release that this year’s awards are special because it marks the 10th year of the recognition for small-business owners and entrepreneurs.

“Our winners come from all across the country, with diverse backgrounds and businesses in varied industries, but they share the courage and determination to make their dreams a reality,” she said. “In addition to recognizing them, and our dedicated SCORE mentors, we also thank our partners, all of whom strengthen our efforts to educate and support American entrepreneurs.”

SCORE has helped more than 11 million entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses since 1964, said SCORE CEO Ken Yancey in the news release. “These awards honor a few of the most outstanding among them, and recognize the SCORE mentors who have helped them along their journeys to success. We hope that sharing these powerful stories will inspire others to pursue their own entrepreneurial dreams, and to take full advantage of the valuable resources that SCORE provides.”

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