A small business in New York is in the running to win a national contest.
Sunhee’s Farm and Kitchen in Troy has been selected as a top 10 finalist in the third annual Barclays U.S. Consumer Bank’s “Small Business Big Wins” contest, which includes a $255,000 prize pool.
Sunhee’s owner and founder Jinah Ahn is hoping to be voted into the money. Ahn, grateful to be selected after a failed attempt last year, says this year brought the stiffest competition yet.
“There were nearly 15,000 entries of small businesses this year, and we were picked across the country as one of them. There’s a lot of great businesses on that roster, but we are the only AAPI owned business,” Ahn said. “I'm really the only business that's based in New York state. So, we feel like, you know, this is something that we can rally over to really garner local support, and also use this as an opportunity to put Troy, New York on the map, while sharing our story.”
Sunhee’s Farm and Kitchen is an immigrant-owned and operated business that has been serving the Capital Region since 2016, and Ahn says the mission extends beyond just good Korean food. In addition to several menus and catering options, Ahn says her business is dedicated to providing education and employment services for local immigrant and refugee communities.
“We have a restaurant where my family is heavily involved, they help cook the food, and we really, you know, also love Korean food. And as we share that and bring people together, we're also able to incorporate in house services for immigrants," Ahn continued. “So that includes English classes, computer access, and we're finding that is becoming more of a need as classes go remote or even hybrid, and just really listening to what it is that a community's needs are and addressing that.”
The Small Business, Big Wins competition was created during the pandemic to provide a much-needed boost to small businesses while highlighting their stories of resilience. A prize pool of $250,000 is currently up for grabs including one grand prize of $60,000, a 2nd place prize of $40,000, a 3rd place prize of $20,000, and several runner- up prizes of $5,000 each.
People have the opportunity to review stories of the top 10 finalists and submit to the voting portal. Voting closes today. Ahn says it’s all about the numbers at this point, and the support Sunhee’s has received so far has been almost overwhelming.
“We’re so excited and we feel encouraged by all of the shares and likes, but even just the simple comments where people are like, “Hey, we love Sunhee’s,” like, “go for it, we're rooting for you, we're gonna vote every day,” Ahn stated. “We're hoping some more, you know, local news channels can pick some of this up and, help us spread the word because it really is about numbers at this point. And it's not necessarily... I don't think it's about, you know, who's the better business out of the 10. It's just about, you know, who has the local support in their own community.”
Ahn says a win in the contest would help support the nonprofit arm Sunhee’s Community Place.
“This contest is another avenue through which we can, you know, secure additional funding, bolster some of those programs, but at the same time, do it in our own way, and also increase what kind of services we can offer through the restaurant. But not only that, we're thinking about more long-term investments that we can make to ensure our programs are sustainable in the future. So, you know, developing curricula, also making sure that we have training materials translated in various languages,” Ahn added. “For the restaurant side, we want to revamp our back patio, make sure it's still a hub that community members can enjoy and access. We even thought about, you know, having a little childcare space in our back room as a way for parents to enjoy food and come to the restaurant as well. So, we're trying to be creative and think about how we can make this money last.”
Winners will be announced on May 3rd. There’s more information at www.barclayssmallbizbigwins.com
