Just one company from Bainbridge Island is represented among 16 semifinalists recently announced in Kitsap Bank’s Edg3 Fund small business competition, bringing OfficeXpats a big step closer to the $20,000 grand prize.

The push to make it to the finals starts on Monday, Sept. 18, when pubLic voting will narrow the field to just five companies.

The Edg3 Fund competition, now in its fourth year, awards the grand prize to a Puget Sound company that best fits its mission of “economic, social, and environmental contributions to the community,” and can show how the prize money would give that company an “edge.”

OfficeXpats — a coworking hub and meeting room rental business on the second floor of the Bainbridge Pavilion — brings together many remote workers, so-called “solopreneurs,” and small businesses. OfficeXpats provides productivity essentials such as desk space, fast wi-fi, printers, scanners, copiers (and coffee), while creating a nourishing environment for relationships between independent professionals seeking to network.

“We are thrilled to have been chosen as a semi-finalist for the Edg3 Fund competition,” OfficeXpats co-founder Leslie Schneider said. “It acknowledges the tangible value our business provides to the Bainbridge Island community.

“In many cases, OfficeXpats is a launch pad for businesses that move on to form larger companies, and winning the award would help us expand and offer more options to people who want to grow their business and stay working on the island.”

A major component of the Edg3 competition entry is a short pitch video.

This 2-minutes-or-less film is a company’s best way to win hearts and minds in the second phase of the contest: the public vote.

OfficeXpats founders Jason Omens and Schneider approached a member, Laurance Price of Priceless Productions, to shoot their video. It features members discussing the economic and community benefits they experience working in this shared office and is narrated by Charlie King, a longtime member and professional coach who developed podcasting skills using OfficeXpats as his “studio.”

The video can be found on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1F1rIeiPhg.

OfficeXpats will be mobilizing networks on Bainbridge and beyond starting Sept. 18 to get online votes and advance to the finals.

In a live event on Nov. 16, five finalists make their pitches before a panel of independent judges.