The Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation held a breakfast to honor the winners of the 2014 Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards and to thank their sponsors for their generous support. The festive event was held at Marmalade Café’s private dining room last Tuesday.

“There is so little time at the awards to learn about the businesses of our winning entrepreneurs,” said Cathy Feldman, board chairwoman and CEO of the foundation. “Being able to meet informally and have time for the winners to meet each other, our sponsors and share their stories is a lot of fun for everyone.”


The Spirit of Entrepreneurship Celebration Breakfast was attended by the 2014 — winners as well as sponsors including Montecito Bank & Trust, lynda.com, Southern California Edison, Cox Media, Pacific Western Bank, Marmalade Café, The Fess Parker Resort, Matthew I. Berger Law Group and many others. For a complete list of our great sponsors, click here.

Each of the winners present were given certificates by representatives of our elected officials including Wendy Motta for Rep. Lois Capp; Alexandra Briante for state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, Annett Huratado for Assemblyman Das Williams and Mary O’Gorman for Second District Supervisor Janet Wolf. Although she was unable to be there, Mayor Helene Schneider also prepared certificates from the City of Santa Barbara.

The Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation’s Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards are designed to recognize the contributions of women entrepreneurs in Santa Barbara County for the benefit of student entrepreneurs. Proceeds from the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards go to the winners of the SBCC Scheinfeld Center’s New Venture Challenge, a business pitch competition for regional high school and collegiate students.

This year, the foundation raised $12,500 as seed money for the student winners.

“The mission of the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation is to support entrepreneurship at all levels in Santa Barbara County because entrepreneurs are the engine for growing our economy,” Feldman added. “By recognizing women entrepreneurs for the benefit of student entrepreneurs, we believe we are making an important contribution.”

For more information about the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards and the wining women and students, click here or email info@soefoundation.org or call 805.682.8380.

— Cathy Feldman is board chairwoman and CEO for the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation.