Sheldon, Iowa — “Dream Big, Grow Here” — that’s the name of an award-winning business grant contest for Iowans to fulfill their dreams of self-employment or expansion of their current business. And a Sheldon business is one of the contestants.
The contest allows entrepreneurs the chance to submit their dreams to start or expand a business, then encourage friends, family, and customers to vote for them online. The finalists will present their idea to an audience and judges in a pitch-off event for a chance to win thousands in cash prizes.
Lyon County Economic Development Director Steve Simons tells us about it.
He says the six industry categories include: Pre-revenue, Retail/Wholesale, Hospitality/ Restaurants, Ag/Production, Professional Services, and Manufacturing/Bioscience/ Information Technology. During the voting period, the entrepreneur will recruit others to vote for their entry at www.DreamBigGrowHere.com. Five entries will be selected from each industry category to advance to the statewide contest at the statewide entrepreneurial conference, EntreFest, in Iowa City on May 21, 2015. Each entrepreneur that advances in their industry category will participate in a pitch-off event against the other industry finalists for a chance to win $5,000. The winners of each industry category will then advance to the finals the evening of May 21st for a chance to win the grand prize of $10,000.
Amy Strouth, owner of the Prairie Queen Bakery in Sheldon tells us why they submitted their entry, “From the Stone Age to the Millennium Age.”
She says that she’s also looking at bar coding their products to make checkout more efficient and a program that would help her show customers what their decorated cakes were going to look like before they even left the bakery.
How do you vote? Just click on the link below.
http://www.dreambiggrowhere.com/EntryDetails.aspx?entry=1230#.VONpesw6za4.facebook
Click on vote.
In the “Contest” drop down, select Hospitality/Restaurants.
Scroll 3/4 of the way down to Prairie Queen Bakery, and Click on Vote!
You can Vote 1 time per day.
Voting Ends March 1st at 11:59 PM.
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