Deadline nears for business plan competition
Lugar endorses Incubicity initiative
Comet staff report

Incubicity, an initiative to inspire entrepreneurship and economic development in north central Indiana, received a major boost from U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, who recently endorsed the initiative as an essential way to create new businesses and jobs in the region.

Lugar believes Incubicity will provide the right environment to cultivate this type of hidden talent growing just below the surface.

Incubicity is a project of the Indiana Venture Center funded by a WIRED (Workforce Innovations in Regional Economic Development) grant. The program includes workshops and seminars to help budding entrepreneurs hone their ideas and develop ways to market them.

A series of elevator pitch competitions will be held in late January in each of the Incubicity region's 14 counties- Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Fulton, Howard, Miami, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Wabash, Warren and White.

Winning ideas from each county will receive cash prizes, additional mentoring, and a chance to compete in the final business plan competition May 2.

The winner of the business plan competition will receive $25,000 and a head start toward becoming Indiana's next great success story.

Participation in all of Incubicity's programs is free and open to anyone 18 or older who lives or owns a business in the 14-county region. Those with ideas are encouraged to move quickly- the entry deadline is Dec. 15.

Competition details and a program calendar are available at www.incubicity.com.

"Hoosiers have always been great builders and practical innovators, yet many ideas need support to get off the ground," Sen. Lugar said. "Incubicity is the prefect program to nurture entrepreneurship through education and mentoring, creating businesses that can compete and win in the worldwide marketplace."