After the competition was cancelled last year, the city of Rexburg Economic Development Department and Madison Economic Partner, Inc. (MEPI) are proud to announce the upcoming Rexburg BIG Idea Competition.
Aaron Denney is the economic development assistant for the city of Rexburg Economic Development Department. He says the idea for the competition came from Scott Johnson, the director of the department, who wanted to grow the business talent already in Rexburg.
“He put together some different business competitions, and the BIG Idea Competition was one of them,” Denney said.
The BIG Idea Competition is open to individuals and small business who want to get their ideas validated.
“We want to help people kind of overcome that barrier where they have an idea and they just sit on it for years,” Denney said. “We, want to be able to give people a platform to bring their idea to the table and maybe get some help in running with it.”
The competition is different from other pitch competitions. The BIG Idea Competition is catered to individuals who may have an idea, but don’t have a platform to share their idea. Each participant has 90 seconds to pitch their idea in front of a panel of judges in a chance to win $500.
“And obviously, it's, not a ton of money,” Denney said. “But for someone who just has a business idea, and they need just a little bit of money to kind of put together some concepts or initial minimum viable product I think that really can go a long way.”
The last day to register for The BIG Idea Competition is Thursday. The competition will be held on March 7 at The Hatchery Coworking Space. For more information about the competition and how to register, visit madisoneconomicpartners.org.