The second time was the charm for Kaycelyn Rosales-Knight and Countryside Studio and Gym.
The Hamiota-based business was selected as the winner of this year's Fusion Credit Union Community Infusion contest.
Rosales-Knight applied for the contest last year but failed to make it to the final.
"In 2023, when I first applied, I did not have the building and I did not have concrete numbers because I did not know where it was going. This year, we have the building, and I was able to give concrete numbers and concrete estimates, and I feel like I had a better foundation this year than I had last year."
This year, she won the top prize of $20,000.
A total of five businesses pitched their plans to judges during Wednesday night's final in Dauphin.
Fusion Credit Union CEO Darwin Johns was very impressed with how this year's event went.
"The quality of applicants has always been amazing, as you can see from the application videos right to information from the business plans and then the final presentations (Wednesday) evening, it was just phenomenal. It is always inspirational to see the businesses we have in our communities."
Friendly Grocery Co-op finished second and won $4,000 towards their plans to move to a new location in the former Inglis Curling rink.
The other three finalists - which included Multi-Food, Systems Beauty College, and Parkland Radon Testing and Mitigation - took home $2,000 each.
