WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) – Four different entrepreneurs had four minutes each to pitch their products and services to members of the Ohio Valley for the Show of Hands event Monday at the Wheeling Artisan Center. 

Wheeling Heritage has been hosting Show of Hands since 2014 and have been able to give $110,000 to small businesses in the area to date. 

The four businesses attendees voted on were WildHeart by Mindi Yarbrough, Opossum Pouch Soft Goods, Wheeling Coffee & Spice, and The IDEA Center. 

Guests pay $5 at the door and online voters pay $10 to vote and show support for the business they choose. 

”Even though it’s just a $5 donation at the door, they are investors in these businesses, and you can tell that they are interested in seeing these entrepreneurs really succeed and thrive. What we see after this event is even those who don’t win really do receive so much love and support through the community, whether that be through patronizing their business or just getting some more shares on social media to build awareness of their business. It’s really great all around.”

Alex Panas – Program Manager, Wheeling Heritage

Out of these four Wheeling businesses, the crowd voted Jay Hercules from Opossum Pouch Soft Goods as the winner who received $4,000 from community partners PLUS all of the money raised at the door. 

Wheeling Heritage hosts Show of Hands three times a year and the next one is in July. 

Applications for businesses can be found at Show of Hands – Wheeling Heritage.