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Rockville Economic Development, Inc. Hosts 8th Annual StartRight! Competition
Pick Your Business Pitch! Vote for Your Favorite Company
For the first time in competition history, the public may view the finalists in Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI)'s 8th annual StartRight! Women's Business Plan Competition and choose a "Popular Vote" winner. Each of the nine finalists is showcased online at www.capbiz.biz, where she presents her elevator pitch; each runs less than one minute. Viewers are invited to "Pick Their Pitch" by voting for their favorite.
This year's finalists include a home repair business targeted to seniors, a special education service provider, a medical device company, a Pilates studio, a management trainer, and IT companies that produce a recipe and coupon search engine, an on-line political advocacy platform, an on-line financial planning tool, and an infertility treatment tracker. The companies are:
"The StartRight! Competition is only one of the ways that the City of Rockville, through Rockville Economic Development, Inc., supports entrepreneurs," says Sally Sternbach, Executive Director of REDI. "The StartRight! program helps brand Rockville as the place for entrepreneurship, and we are very excited that the general public can get to know some of the amazing companies that we see every day, and can show their support for them by voting."
The StartRight! Competition encourages new and potential entrepreneurs to write business plans. This year, $20,000 in prizes in three categories - biotech, high tech, and general business - will be awarded at The Power Conference: Women Doing Business on September 7 at the Bethesda North Marriott Conference Center. The winner of the popular vote will also be announced at that time. The 2011 cash prizes are provided by Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy and Ecker; Mid-Atlantic Federal Credit Union; the Maryland Biotechnology Center; Foster, Soltoff & Love; and ActionCoach.
Previous StartRight! winners have gone on to receive both public and private investment capital, marketed inventions, and opened commercial establishments. More information about StartRight! and other REDI programs may be found at www.RockvilleREDI.org.
Media inquiries: Lynne Benzion at 301-315-8096
