Thursday, January 15, 2009

Grow Utah Ventures Reveals $20K Grand Prize Contest Winner

A company that has designed a device that allows long-haul truckers to cool their cabs on stops without idling their engines has won Grow Utah Ventures's "Concept to Company" contest for Southern Utah, the organization announced Wednesday. Grow Utah Ventures, a privately funded, not-for-profit group that assists Beehive State entrepreneurs and early stage businesses, said Efficient Fueling Systems will receive the $20,000 grand prize after being chosen from more than 70 contest applicants. Two other startups, EasyLoadPro.com and Proseedure Media, were selected as runners up and will each receive second-place prizes worth $10,000 in cash and consulting services, the organization added. The Utah Science Technology and Research initiative—USTAR, for short—will provide the consulting services while the other co-sponsor, Zion's Bank, will provide the money. Grow Utah Ventures said its next "Concept to Company" contest is slated to begin next month and will focus on medical devices and technology in the Salt Lake City area.