{"id":138109,"date":"2020-12-10T23:45:03","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T04:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=138109"},"modified":"2020-12-10T23:46:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T04:46:08","slug":"zinn-wins-2020-business-plan-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/12\/10\/zinn-wins-2020-business-plan-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Zinn wins 2020 Business Plan Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although COVID-19 caused some delays and changes in this year’s Business Plan Challenge, sponsored by the Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation, Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Van Wert, and Wright State Lake Campus\u2019 Business Development Center, the 2020 event now has a winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audra Zinn, owner of ReLife Holistic Services, was named this year\u2019s winner Thursday after a process that organizers expected to end in March or April, but, like so many other community events and activities, was derailed and delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
ReLife owner Audra Zinn holds the certificate she received for winning the 2020 Business Plan Challenge sponsored by local development organizations. She also received $2,000 in reimbursement funds to pay for business expenses. Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The announcement was made at The Bachwell Center, where ReLife maintains business space. The winner of the challenge receives $2,000 in reimbursement funds for business expenses, a one-year Chamber membership, and business cards from Burcham Printing. Funding for this year\u2019s program was provided by US Bank, Citizens National Bank, and the Van Wert County Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krista Somerton, VWAEDC program manager, said a number of changes had to be made to accommodate the need for social distancing and other coronavirus requirements — which also lengthened the time needed to complete the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normally, those who compete in the program by developing a business plan for their respective companies attend classes provided by WSU-LC\u2019s Business Development Center. This year, though, things happened a little differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead of a two-hour class, they (competitors and business advisors) are going back and forth by email,\u201d Somerton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that judges of this year\u2019s contest — Jenna Dailey, Mark Medford, and Stacy Adam — were impressed with how much work Zinn put into her business plan, which underwent some changes because of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe had to go through those business classes during the pandemic,\u201d Somerton noted, which lengthened the business plan process from a month or so, to taking most of this year and ending just recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the pandemic has also resulted in some changes to Zinn\u2019s business model, mostly changing her reliance on on-site classes to providing online classes and off-site services at local businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m appreciative of that evolution,\u201d ReLife\u2019s owner said. \u201cI like being progressive and meeting people where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ReLife is a business that provides private and group holistic lifestyle classes and services in Van Wert, Lima, Defiance, and Paulding in Ohio, as well as in Fort Wayne and Decatur, Indiana, and also acts as a resource for holistic health practices and strategies throughout each of the communities it serves by organizing and hosting lifestyle and energy work classes, workshops, and esoteric healing sessions for mind, body, and spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the services offered include acupressure, massage, aromatherapy, drumming, reflexology, sound and vibration therapy, crystal therapy, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, guided visualization, and belly dancing classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zinn noted that her stress relief services are especially needed for people who are struggling to deal with effects of the pandemic, both at work and in their personal lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ReLife can be contacted at 419.778.9301, with more information available on Facebook at \u201cReLife Holistic Services\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor Although COVID-19 caused some delays and changes in this year’s Business Plan Challenge, sponsored by the Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation, Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Van Wert, and Wright State Lake Campus\u2019 Business Development Center, the 2020 event now has a winner. Audra Zinn, owner of ReLife […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-03 18:53:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}