DUBOIS – One innovative person could receive up to $11,000 in cash and services to develop and market an invention or idea this fall. The B. I. G.* (*Business Ideas Gone wild) Competition is sponsored by the Tri-County Keystone Innovation Zone, Penn State DuBois and the Greater DuBois Chamber of Commerce.
“The purpose of this is to help foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the region,” said Penn State DuBois Technology Transfer Coordinator, Sally Moran. Moran also said the competition is open to individuals, teams and small businesses that reside in or are based in North Central Pennsylvania, including the counties of Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean and Potter.
Additionally, there are few limits on the scope of ideas that will be considered. “Ideas may be for new products, new services, new business processes or may be a dramatic improvement in things that already exist,” Moran explained.
Ideas, however, must comply with basic criteria. They must be original, and conceived by the applicant or team. They must do something useful. They must have marketable appeal, and they must be something that could eventually lead to sales, profit and employment.
Applications for the competition must be submitted online and include a de scri ption of the product, service or process idea and what it does, suggestions for manufacturing or implementation and a summary of why it should win.
The grand prize winner will receive $1,000 in cash, plus up to $10,000 in services. Services include research and development, and engineering support from the Penn State DuBois Innovation Lab, plus marketing and sales research, and more. Prizes for second place, as well as two honorable mentions will also be awarded.
Visit here to complete an application. Applications must be submitted by midnight, September 14.
For more information, contact:
John Weible, Business Development Coordinator, North Central PA Regional Planning and Development Commission
814-371-1506
jweible@ncentral.com
Sally Moran
814-375-4803
sallymoran@psu.edu