Three finalists, three businesses in our UMLF community, and $47,500 in prize money! Bee Grazing, Elgon Nuts, and Fine Art Denture Lab took home the top awards at the 2026 Mountain West Foundation Final Pitch Competition, presented by Mountain West Foundation and Thrivent Bank at the MACU campus.
For the Utah Microloan Fund, this year’s finals were especially exciting. Elgon Nuts and Fine Art Denture Lab are both UMLF loan clients, and Bee Grazing is currently participating in our in-person Banking on Women cohort. Seeing all three businesses recognized made this a celebration of the entrepreneurs we work with and everything they have put into growing their businesses. We love our jobs!
First Place: Bee Grazing | $20,000
Diana Olaya and Zayra Mendez, co-founders of Bee Grazing, earned first place and a $20,000 award! Their Utah business creates grazing tables and charcuterie experiences for celebrations, weddings, and corporate events.
Currently participating in the in-person cohort of Banking on Women, Diana and Zayra plan to use their winnings for marketing, an ordering platform, and a van. These investments will help them reach more customers, simplify ordering, and transport their creations to events.
We are thrilled to celebrate this milestone with them and look forward to seeing Bee Grazing continue to grow!
Second Place and Crowd Choice: Elgon Nuts | $17,500
Joseph, Gladys, and Andrew Sitati of Elgon Nuts earned second place and the Crowd Choice award, taking home a combined $17,500!
The family business connects Kenyan-grown macadamia nuts with U.S. customers through products including raw and roasted nuts, macadamia butter, and oil. Their work connects customers with quality products while helping create a reliable market for smallholder farmers in Kenya.
Their pitch focused on equipment to automate production and improve storage, particularly for a new macadamia protein bar. Their current production process limits how many bars they can make each day. The proposed equipment would give them the capacity to produce up to 10,000 units per month, creating room to grow sales and meet future demand.
The $17,500 award brings Elgon Nuts closer to that investment and the next stage of growth for their family business.
Third Place: Fine Art Denture Lab | $10,000
Robert “Bob” and Terri Vavas of Fine Art Denture Lab earned third place and a $10,000 award!
Based in St. George, the family-owned laboratory combines decades of dental laboratory experience with modern technology to create dentures and other dental prosthetics. Bob, a Navy veteran, leads the business alongside Terri and their son, Aaron, who is also a Navy veteran.
Their funding request focused on purchasing an in-house dental mill. The equipment would allow the lab to produce milled dentures locally instead of sending that work to out-of-state providers. Bringing production in-house would help reduce outside costs, improve turnaround times, and give the team more control over quality and scheduling.
The investment also supports the lab’s broader vision of creating skilled training and employment opportunities for veterans through its VA-approved on-the-job training program. Their $10,000 award is a meaningful step toward purchasing the mill and expanding what the business can offer.
Our Favorite Part: Working With the Entrepreneurs
One of our favorite parts of this competition has been working with the business owners as they prepare, helping them fine-tune their presentations, and getting in plenty of pitch practice together. We get to hear their stories, learn more about their plans, and watch their confidence grow along the way. Seeing them take the stage and celebrate these wins made it all even more fun!
We also want to recognize JulieAnn Caramels, Taste Spuds, and Salon Pettine, who advanced through earlier rounds of the competition. We are proud of the time, effort, and heart these entrepreneurs put into sharing their businesses.
Thank You to Our Community Partners
Thank you to Mountain West Foundation and Thrivent Bank for making this pitch conference possible and to MACU for hosting the event. Access to funding, connections, and a platform to share their work can make a real difference for growing businesses.
Congratulations to Bee Grazing, Elgon Nuts, and Fine Art Denture Lab on their well-earned awards. We loved cheering you on and cannot wait to see what comes next!