MONTEREY, Calif. -Many business entrepreneurs brought their ideas to the table Tuesday night. Here's the catch the person with the best idea takes it all home, 50,000 dollars to start up their business. Danelle Lee is looking to jumpstart a gaming business. As Facebook and iphones become more popular, Lee wants to design applications for them. So she came to tonight's business competition workshop to find out how to get going
"It's going to open up a lot of doors. In some ways it's not a competition because I think that you are going to gain so much knowledge, you're going to get a lot of exposure a lot of training; this is a mentorship that everyone really needs," said Danelle Lee.
At Tuesday night's workshop in Monterey, hopefuls learned how to keep a business up and running, especially in this tough economy. Linda Lannon opened her shop last November and said the recession is making it hard to make ends meet.
"We've got a good reception so far to the business, but it is difficult to find money to find banks that will loan to you. There's a lot of talk about money available through banks and lenders but it's really very difficult to find it," said Linda Lannon.
In order to find some extra cash, many are hoping to win the competition and take home the 50 grand. More than 30 cities, organizations, universities and businesses in the area are supporting this competition. Organizers said it's about inspiring innovation to create new jobs and developing a more diverse economy.
"Obviously economies all over the world are suffering, we are here too. We think that there is an entrepreneurial spirit in this area that we could leverage by putting together a competition that is different from many," says Dr. Ernest Scalberg, competition organizer.
The competition application deadline is Friday, February 26. For more information on the competition click here: marinatechnologycluster.org
