Lynn Toomey Local Entrepreneur and Founder of Art to Gogh, Wins Grand Prize in Mount Wachusett Community College's (MWCC), Third Annual Business Plan Competition

Worcester, MA, December 15, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Lynn Toomey, Founder of Art to Gogh and a local entrepreneur, recently won the grand prize in the third annual MWCC Business Plan Competition. The competition sponsored by MWCC's Entrepreneurial Resource Center with the support of many business sponsors allows local entrepreneurs or business owners to compete by submitting a business plan that portrays a unique and innovative service or concept. MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino who has been involved with the contest for many years feels it reflects the ingenuity in the North County region. Each year the organization sees a different mix of businesses that participate. The MWCC’s desire is to provide a catalyst that each year helps those who win reach that next level of success. Toomey submitted a 20-page business plan detailing the next phase of growth for her “Art to Gogh” business. Formally established in 2006, Art to Gogh offers a portfolio of mobile creative education and entertainment services brought right into a classroom, community, birthday party, or corporate event. Since its inception, Art to Gogh has been a huge success and a much “needed” service at this critical time of education budget cuts that in many cases have drastically reduced or eliminated “extras” such as art education from the curriculum at schools all over the region.

The funding will help Toomey to launch her Art to Gogh business to the next level. From schools, to corporate events, or private parties Toomey’s clients across the region have commented on the valuable service that Art to Gogh is providing. Paula Spivey, Winchendon School Parent Teacher Organization states, "Lynn, thank you so much for the Art to Gogh program. We have had nothing but positive feedback. The teachers relayed that the kids really had a great time. And we look forward to having you return in the spring.” In addition, Linda Quebec from Digital Credit Union commented, “Our company outing was awesome. Your staff was fantastic. You made it look easy to tie dye & face paint with 1,000 people. Thank you.” Karen Driscoll, Early Childhood Program Manager, Fitchburg Public Schools stated, "The StoryArt program was wonderfully creative and educational. Each of the 25 centers gave us great feedback and the program fell within our budget. Best of all, the children were able to experiment, explore and express their creativity." Based on these testimonials, it looks like the judging volunteers of the competition chose a viable business plan to support in Art to Gogh.

Toomey’s grand prize included $13,400 in cash and in-kind service, plus six-months of free office space to grow her one -year-old company. This breaks down to include $5,000 in cash for business expansion and a variety of in-kind services from competition sponsors, such as legal guidance, web design, marketing, printing and Chamber of Commerce membership totaling a $13,400 value. The competition winnings will enable Toomey to increase marketing efforts and develop a licensing program to launch the business model to other independent owners across the United States “I’m thrilled to have been chosen as the winner of this fantastic contest. Not only did it affirm my belief in Art to Gogh, but the contest also gave me an opportunity to receive third party endorsement from expert judges. This is a huge confidence booster for an entrepreneur. I’m looking forward to investing the cash and services in the next phase of growth and seeing my vision of Art to Gogh across the country come true.”

In addition, Toomey recently launched her newest venture, Ladies Who Launch (LWL). She serves as LWL’s Director and Incubator Leader for the Worcester, MetroWest, West and Central Mass region. Through Art to Gogh, Toomey has the opportunity and pleasure to meet many women in all stages of their lives. She sees a common thread in many of them that she decided is not being addressed—their desire to do “something else” in their lives, coupled with a lack of support and inspiration…thus launching LWL in October, 2007.

About Lynn Toomey; Entrepreneur, Business Woman, Mother
A successful business woman and mother to three children, she decided to utilize her corporate executive expertise that spans in excess of 15-years assisting technology companies in their early stages of launching, to launch her own businesses, Art to Gogh, www.ArttoGogh.net and Ladies Who Launch, www.LadiesWhoLaunch.com. Toomey is looking forward to expanding into her next phase of growth with Art to Gogh, and also helping women to actualize their vision and/or launch into a new phase of their lives with Ladies Who Launch. For more information or interviews, contact: Christina Andrianopoulos, Public Relations; Ladies Who Launch, 917.734.9804, Christina@TheOmGroup.com

###