Budding entrepreneurs will once again have an opportunity make their business ideas a reality as applications for the second Business Pitch Competition are being accepted. Winners, who will get $1,000 in startup money and six months’ free rent in the business incubator, will be selected from four categories: high school, technology, university and general business. Business pitches will be judged by a local panel of business leaders and entrepreneurs.

“The region has had successful entrepreneurs for many years,” said Adrian Wallace, the business incubator’s executive director. “There are a lot of people in the five-parish area who are already entrepreneurs or have the entrepreneur itch and are trying to figure out how to get an idea going. Everyone references the phenomenal expansion headed our way and makes the ground even that much more fertile for entrepreneurs.”

Last year’s competition had 30 applicants, and 14 are now in the incubator, which has the capacity to hold 16 more. Even if you don’t win the competition, you’re eligible to move into the incubator.

“We emphasize that it’s a business pitch and not a business plan,” Wallace said. “A business plan makes people a little leery. A business pitch isn’t a 500-page document.”

Wallace said the competition is not for a “fully established business,” but for people with a strong idea of what they want to create but don’t necessarily have the resources.

Deadline for pitches is Monday, March 17, and they’re being accepted online. Finalists will be chosen Tuesday, March 25. The competition is a collaboration between the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance and the Angels of Southwest Louisiana.

For more information, call Wallace at 433-0977 or visit www.seedcenterswla.com.(MGNonline)