The third year of the IDEA Competition is officially underway. Since its launch two years ago, the competition has awarded $90,000 to nine northwest Minnesota entrepreneurs.
The purpose of the competition is to assist the most promising local entrepreneurs in the commercialization of innovative products, processes and deliveries by connecting them to the best resources available, along with access to the capital it takes to launch a successful venture. The competition awards as many as five $10,000 prizes each year to winning ideas.
The cash awards are just one of the benefits. Nancy Fisher, from Warroad, Minn., and inventor of Highway-My-Way™, was one of five 2010 winners. "Being a contestant in the IDEA competition was like working on a ‘mini-MBA,’” Fisher said. “Writing the business plan, making financial projections, and preparing a presentation were all very practical learning experiences."
Fisher expects a product launch later this year.
Jason LaValley, of LaValley Industries, located in Bemidji, another of the 2010 winners, agrees about the benefits of participating in the competition. “The IDEA competition added expertise and momentum to our project,” he said. “The competition helped us better focus our efforts and we are still seeing the benefits. Business is booming and we are growing rapidly.”
LaValley Industries recently entered into a major sales agreement with a large equipment distributor.
Tim Sargent, creator of the Trophy Head Shot™, another 2010 winner, also found the competition to be beneficial. “The guidance and advice I received from the committee, advisers and judges will be very helpful on my journey to the marketplace,” Sargent said. “I appreciate the advice I have received.”
Sargent’s product is beginning to make its way onto store shelves and will soon be available online.
IDEA Competition Project Coordinator Michelle Landsverk, says the competition is unique. “There are a lot of business plan competitions and a lot of invention competitions out there. IDEA is distinctive, because it’s kind of a hybrid of the two,” she said. “What we’re really looking for are people with good ideas and a solid plan for turning those ideas into profitable businesses here in northwest Minnesota.”
Registration opens September 1, 2010 at www.ideacompetition.org.
IDEA has been made possible by financial contributions of the following: 360° Manufacturing and Applied Engineering Center of Excellence, Blandin Foundation, Bremer Banks of Crookston and Warren, Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corporation, Northwest Minnesota Foundation, Northwest Regional Small Business Development Center, and University of Minnesota, Crookston.
