APPLICATION
Applications are due no later than 5:00 PM on March 30, 2012.
Enter your innovative solutions in our
entrepreneurship competition in Central Illinois today!
PROJECT INNOVATION
Project Innovation of Sangamon County (the “Competition”) is an initiative of The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce’s Quantum Growth Partnership (Q5). The purpose of the Competition is to catalyze entrepreneurial innovations through education and the matching of community capital, both intellectual and financial, with those who can effectively apply it in economically productive ways through novel products and services. Companies and individuals (“Applicants”) sought are those with innovative products or services seeking development or resources and those companies and individuals with existing products and services seeking expansion funds.
This competition is open to all types of products or services that utilize innovation to advance the development of a product, expand services, increase production or enhance efficiencies while providing an economic return to the community. Examples of such innovations may include, but are not limited to, information technology products, research tools or services, agricultural enhancements or manufacturing devices from any industry.
Goals of the Competition:
(1) Assess the innovation prowess of the region
(2) Provide a useful forum and resources to assist entrepreneurs
(3) Elevate applicant’s access and visibility to investment firms and prospective clients
(4) Create more competitive companies for future grants/awards
By submitting an application to this competition, each Applicant acknowledges:
(1) that the application will be inspected by judges and other investors and that the submission will not be deemed “confidential”, thus, please make sure all disclosures within this application are of a non-confidential nature;
(2) the administrators of the Competition may publicly post all or part of the body of the submitted application as they deem appropriate, but will not post anything marked "confidential"; and
(3) Q5 and other affiliated sponsors and partners do not intend to compete with the Applicants. Any adverse interests are incidental in nature and any potential conflict of interests will be managed as best decided by the administrators of the Competition.
Awards:
The following is the award structure for the Acceleration winners:
- Grand Prize $25,000
- First Prize $12,500
- Second Prize $7,500
The following is the award structure for the Innovation winners:
- Grand Prize $7,000
- First Runner-Up $5,000
- Second Runner-Up $3,000
In both categories, the screening judges will request five finalists to develop a presentation to a panel of Final Judges. The Finalists in both the Acceleration and Innovation categories will be asked to re-present an abbreviated presentation at a public forum later that day and will be awarded their prize money at the conclusion of that forum. An outline of the Finalist Competition will be given when the finalists are announced on April 13, 2012. Only one project will be allowed per Applicant.
Scoring Criteria:
Projects will be measured by their: (1) economic impact on Sangamon County (2) viability, (3) merit of innovation, and (4) long term return potential to the community.
The Applications and Finalists will be scored as follows:
- 35% of total points based on the innovation’s economic impact on Sangamon County
- 25% of total points based on the viability of the Applicant’s submission
- 25% of total points based on the innovation of the Applicant’s submission
- 15% of total points based on how the award money will be used to achieve a significant economic impact on Sangamon County
Eligibility:
Acceleration Applicants must agree to locate the company's principal place of business within Sangamon County at the time of the award. By submitting an application to Project Innovation, the Applicant agrees to locate his or her business in Sangamon County for no less than one year in the event their innovation is chosen as an award winner. The date of residency begins at the time of the monetary award. Applicants must NOT have net annual gross revenue of more than $5,000,000 and have 10 or less employees. The award winners will be required to submit progress reports during remaining calendar year.
Innovation Applicants must agree to locate the company's principal place of business within Sangamon County at the time of the award. By submitting an application to Project Innovation, the Applicant agrees to locate his or her business in Sangamon County for no less than one year in the event their innovation is chosen as an award winner. The date of residency begins at the time of the monetary award. Applicants must NOT have net annual gross revenue of more than $2,500,000. In addition to this, the business must not have more than 5 employees at the time of application submission. The award winners will be required to submit a one page progress report one year after the award receipt.
Submission:
Applications may optionally include an Appendix with a maximum limit of two pages. Applications may be submitted in two ways: electronically via msutton@gscc.org in a PDF format or in a hardcopy version sent to:
Attn: Competition Screening Committee
The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce
1011 S. Second Street
Springfield, Illinois 62704
All hardcopy applications must be postmarked March 30, 2012 to be considered. A confirmation letter will be sent to the lead applicant upon receipt. Electronic submissions must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. central standard time March 30, 2012 to be considered. A confirmation email will be sent to the lead applicant following receipt of the application.
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Competition Announcement
Deadline for Applicants
Scoring of Applicants Completed / Notification to Finalists
Finalists Present to Judging Panel / Winners Announced |
January 5, 2012
March 30, 2012
April 13, 2012
May 17, 2012 |
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