Pitch your business idea during Big Idea Kearney; Entries due Oct. 18

KEARNEY – Multi-directional skateboard wheels, television mounts for residence hall rooms, a foster care app and online music school.

These inventions all have something in common.

Those four products and many others won cash through Big Idea Kearney, an annual contest hosted by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Rural Development in the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s College of Business and Technology.

The competition, in its eighth year, is looking for the next batch of new business concepts, with six winners receiving up to ,000 in funding.

Big Idea Kearney is open to anyone at least 10 years old with a business idea. Entries do not have to be a complete business model, only a description of the product or service, what need it serves, its target audience and how it would be made available to customers.

To enter, upload a two-minute video pitching a business idea onto YouTube, then submit the URL at unk.edu/bigideakearney. The contest is free, but entries must be received before Oct. 18.

Finalists in two categories – college students and community members – will present their ideas 7 p.m. Nov. 7 at Cunningham’s on the Lake, 610 Talmadge St., in Kearney. Winners, as selected by an audience vote, will receive $1,000 for first place, $500 for second and $250 for third in each category.

Big Idea Kearney was created to provide support for Nebraska entrepreneurs. The contest is sponsored by the UNK College of Business and Technology, Economic Development Council of Buffalo County, Invest Nebraska Corporation, NUtech Ventures, Nebraska Enterprise Fund and Cunningham’s Journal.

For more information, visit unk.edu/bigideakearney or call 308-865-8199. Assistance with recording and uploading videos also is available by contacting the Center for Entrepreneurship and Rural Development at that number.