The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has launched a nationwide competition for entrepreneurs focusing on products and services that will benefit women and their families.
Both Syracuse and Utica will host local competitions later this month.
The SBA started “InnovateHER: 2015 Innovating for Women Business Challenge” earlier this month with local competitions that universities, accelerators, clusters, scale-up communities, SBA’s resource partners, and other local organizations are hosting.
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The agency announced the competition in a news release issued Monday.
The SBA is seeking entrepreneurs who have created a product or service that will have a “measurable impact on women and their families, fills a need in the marketplace, and has the potential for commercialization,” according to the news release.
Locally, the WISE Women’s Business Center and Onondaga Small Business Development Center will host a competition in Syracuse on March 26. And, the Women’s Business Center of New York State in Utica will do the same on March 30, the SBA said.
The entrepreneurs the local judges select will make it to the semi-final round.
An executive committee that includes SBA officials will review the semi-final nomination packages and select no more than 10 finalists, the agency said.
The 10 finalists will travel to Washington, D.C. on May 8, where they’ll pitch their products and ideas to a panel of expert judges during SBA’s National Small Business Week.
The finalists will compete for a total of $30,000 in prize money that Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has provided.
“The landscape of the U.S. economy has evolved drastically during the last 50 years, and women played a significant role in that change,” Maria Contreras-Sweet, SBA administrator, said in the news release. “We are harnessing the power of America’s entrepreneurs to develop products, services and technologies that support women as they deal with the challenges of work and home. This innovation challenge will both help strengthen the economy and empower women to succeed.”
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
