The revamped Build Bartlesville Innovative Ideas Competition has received a record number of 15 applications.
This year’s competition will feature a battle between existing small business owners looking for funding to take their product or service to new markets and start-up entrepreneurs who are seeking critical seed funding to turn their idea into an enterprise. These competitors will be battling for not only their share of the nearly $15,000 in prize money but also the title as the next great Bartlesville entrepreneur.
Proposals are due by 5 p.m., Feb. 11 and will be judged by a committee of northeast Oklahoma’s brightest business minds. Judges will select the top six proposals and announce the finalists on Feb. 25. The six finalists will work with business mentors from the Rogers State University Innovation Center to develop their final proposal and subsequent oral presentation. Oral presentations will be March 14. The award presentation date and location will be announced later.
The group of 15 semi-finalists features a diverse group of entrepreneurs and existing small business owners in the Bartlesville area. The semifinalists include ideas from a variety of business and industrial sectors, including manufacturing, technology, retail, hospitality, non-profit, service and more.
The Build Bartlesville innovative ideas competition is a collaboration between RSU and the Bartlesville Development Corporation. Area sponsors include the 66 Federal Credit Union, Armstrong Bank, RCB Bank, the Strategy Center at Tri County Technology Center, Woolaroc, the Price Tower and the Bartlesville History Museum. The official media sponsors for the event are Bartlesville Radio and the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise newspaper.
For more information, visit www.buildbartlesville.info.