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Shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip.
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — It’s Year 5 for the Las Vegas Raiders’ Small Business Showcase competition and every year a quartet of small business finalists with annual revenues of less than $10 million vie for a $100,000 Raiders marketing package.
In a market like Las Vegas where start-ups and entrepreneurs dream of hitting the big time, these varied and earnest businesses want to make a buck while being true to their values and helping their community.
This time, a hair-cutting business that specializes in kids called Cookie Cutters won the $100,000 worth of Raiders radio spots, digital mentions and media ads, with Raiders team president Sandra Douglass Morgan explaining this annual exercise also gives the Raiders a sense of the barriers and challenges facing small businesses in Las Vegas.
“It’s educational for us,” Douglass Morgan told a small audience gathered in an Allegiant Stadium club.
Ogden, Utah-based America First Credit Union, a Raiders founding partner, helped sponsor the annual small business event that included these three other finalists tonight: Fastlane Coatings, Me Gusta Tacos and NEAT Method Las Vegas.
Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids owner Tyler Stinson oversees four locations scattered around the valley suburbs, with 23 people on the company payroll, including 20 stylists. Stinson appeared with Sophia Sanfelippo, Cookie Cutters operations manager.
The Raiders’ 2024 showcase winner, CurlyTop Baker, a cookie-making business in Anthem, passed on the small business contest baton, if you will, to Cookie Cutters. CurlyTop Baker owner Angela Pepe sat on the panel that picked the winner. America First also had representatives on the panel that chose the winner.
Pepe said she “loved their enthusiasm. They really drew us in.” Pepe recalled that Cookie Cutters took pride in helping special-need kids get haircuts.
Winning the showcase offers instant credibility for the business, Pepe told LVSportsBiz.com. “It’s almost like we’re back on the map,” she said of winning the 2024 contest last year.
After arriving in 2020, the Raiders are trying to integrate into the Las Vegas market. This small business contest is one way to help, while also activating its founding sponsorship with America First. Southern Nevada is raising more than $1 billion over 30 years to help pay for the $750 million in public money it contributed to the construction of Allegiant Stadium, which is controlled by the Raiders.
The Raiders are holding a team practice at the stadium Saturday. The team is trying to improve on its disappointing 4-win season from 2024 under new coach Pete Carroll.
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