2011
ANNUAL REPORT
IDEA COMPETITION: The IDEA competition, celebrating its third year in 2010-11, was designed for one purpose — to grow the economy of Northwest Minnesota by outfitting the next generation of homegrown innovators for success in the global marketplace. The program identifies the most promising ideas and entrepreneurs through a competitive process, awards cash to winners, and provides intensive follow-up assistance.
2011 Winners (left to right): Jorge Prince, Jason LaValley, Chuck Odegaard, Al Aaseby, Fred Hartmann, Arnold Kleinsasser, Jeff Sullivan, Kenneth Kleinsasser, Kristine Goddard-Anderson, Elizabeth Peterson
2011 WINNERS
The competition showcases entrepreneurs that have innovative ideas to solve unique challenges not currently being served in the marketplace. Since inception, thirteen winners have been selected, and nearly $200,000 has been awarded to help bring ideas to commercialization. The overarching themes of the judging criteria are: Innovation, Commercial Viability, Financial Attractiveness, and Entrepreneur Team. The judging panelists are bankers, educators, business owners, engineers, entrepreneurs and economic development leaders in the region. Throughout the first two rounds of judging, two full days of boot camp provide training for writing a business plan, market research, intellectual property, presentation skills, and financial statements. The Northwest Small Business Development Center and other small business support centers are critical resources for the entrepreneur during the business plan writing and development stages, helping them prepare them for advancing in the competition. The winners and finalists are announced and celebrated at the Awards Banquet where up to five winners receive $10,000 cash and technical assistance for up to two years on individual business development and commercialization of their product. The post-award technical assistance is provided by staff at the Northwest Minnesota Foundation and they continue to be supported by the NWSBDC.
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Craft Night Out • Kristine Goddard-Anderson (Thief River Falls, MN) and Elizabeth Petersen (Shoreview, MN) Craft Night Out is an innovative business model that brings the joy of crafting to the home-party setting. It turns the home-party sales model on its head by eliminating in-home sales and instead, creating a pre-party, web-based sales model. Turn@bout • Allen Aaseby, Fred Hartmann, and Chuck Odegaard, Thief River Falls, MN The pallet jack can be difficult and time consuming to maneuver into position without kicking or lifting the front of the pallet jack. The Turn@bout is an add-on accessory for pallet jacks. When installed, the turning radius is cut in half. The PIPEMATE • Jason LaValley, Jorge Prince, and Roger LaValley, Bemidji, MN LaValley Industries’ PIPEMATE works in conjunction with a CRC-Evans automatic welding unit to dramatically improve both the speed and safety of the tie-in welding process for the pipeline industry. It will reduce time and labor costs and increase worker safety. EquipAll GrappleHoe • Jeff Sullivan and Arnold Kleinsasser, Bemidji, MN The EquipAll GrappleHoe offers a unique combination of two of the most common attachments: the Grapple for grabbing & carrying, and the Backhoe for digging and trenching. IDEA sponsors are: Bremer Banks of Crookston and Warren; Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corporation; Northwest Minnesota Foundation; University of Minnesota, Crookston; 360º Center for Manufacturing and Applied Engineering Center of Excellence; Northwest Regional Small Business Development Center. IDEA was made possible by a grant from the Blandin Foundation. For more information, visit: www.ideacompetition.org
IDEA COMPETITION