Tristan Corriveau of Scarborough accepted his national award for Outstanding Young Entrepreneur with a boyish grin.
“So, this is really cool!” he said.
The 2017 SCORE Awards celebrates the best in small businesses from across the country and honored Corriveau and his SCORE Maine mentor, Donna LeBreux for their work in launching Corriveau’s innovative business, The One Gallon Soap Company.
The One Gallon Soap Company with its environmental mission, produces liquid hand soap made from recycled bars of hotel soap.
Corriveau started his company in 2016, inspired by checking out of a hotel room and realizing he was leaving a nearly entirely unused bar of soap behind. After he discovered over two million such bars of soap are discarded by hotels every day, Corriveau’s passion for the environment drove him to figure out a way to repurpose them. He got to work experimenting, partnering with the Press Hotel in Portland and working with students at the University of Southern Maine (USM). His efforts led to a grant from the Libra Future Fund, which enabled The One Gallon Soap Company to move forward in its mission to perfect its process for recycling the used soap.
The aptly named One Gallon Soap Company exclusively packages its 100% recycled, premium liquid hand soap in gallon jugs. Selling soap by the gallon enables the company to sell the same amount of soap as other companies while only using one-tenth of the number of bottles.
Corriveau credits his SCORE Maine mentors, LeBreux and Chuck Grossman, for their roles in helping him start and grow his company.
“In every moment of doubt, frustration, and confusion, my mentors have stepped up and pushed me, listened to me, advised me, and cheered me on. They’ve been key to The One Gallon Soap Company’s success. It’s a privilege to be a part of SCORE.”
Corriveau’s mentors connected him with USM to identify a scalable method to sterilize used soap and facilitated valuable local partnerships. Through meeting with him about every two weeks (and sometimes more if there’s a particular issue to address), they continue to provide guidance and insight about finances, marketing, and more.
Lead mentor LeBreux thinks that Corriveau’s award was well deserved.
“Tristan encompasses the success characteristics of some of our most successful entrepreneurs. He has a passion for his business, he has intensity, and he has commitment to his ideas,” LeBreux said.
We hope you’ll join us in congratulating Corriveau on his business success and celebrating how SCORE mentors can help entrepreneurs realize their dreams!
With experience in all aspects of launching and running a small business, SCORE mentors offer valuable guidance and feedback. If you need help starting a new business or overcoming a daunting challenge in your existing business, contact us today.