FastLane 94 Trailblazer Finalists Announced

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) - Five finalists have been chosen in this year’s FastLane 94 Trailblazer challenge.

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The competition focuses on product ideas from West Central Minnesota’s new companies or businesses that have been incorporated for less than a year.

The best ideas will be shared in $5000 of cash prizes, plus the winning idea is automatically entered into the MN-Cup business competition through the University of Minnesota.

The challenge is organized by the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation in partnership with similar organizations in Fergus Falls, Brainerd, Fargo, Moorhead, and ILT Studios. GSDC Business Development Director Leslie Dingmann says this is an opportunity for new businesses in our area to get a jump start.

People who enter this competition not only get a chance to showcase their ideas, but they could receive resources that help make those ideas a reality. In other words, any great idea is eligible for consideration, no matter what the industry.

This Year’s Finalists:

• Adapdom, from Sauk Rapids, has created a compression support glove with coverage through the fingers, hand, and wrist that provides relief and makes daily tasks easier for people suffering from arthritis, fibromyalgia, or other life-altering hand and wrist conditions.
• Better Greens, from Buffalo, is dedicated to cultivating and creating access to a diverse range of ethnic African vegetables, ensuring their availability to African immigrant communities while providing comprehensive support and resources to empower African immigrant farmers in Minnesota for successful agricultural endeavors.
• FamliCare, from Alexandria, eases stress for exhausted dementia caregivers by providing an all-in-one app to help them organize with precision, collaborate with purpose, and illuminate inevitable challenges on the path ahead as they move through each phase of their loved one’s care journey.
• Grandpa Jimmy's Ice Hole Trap, from Alexandra, is a foot-controlled “landing net for ice fishing” that places a solid barrier at the bottom of an ice fishing hole, preventing fish from getting away at that last critical moment and making it easy to lift fish to the surface.
• ModernKind, from Zimmerman, solves the problem of excess plastic waste and travel shampoo bottles that leak in your luggage with high-quality shampoo powder in a convenient and refillable aluminum bottle.

They will present their ideas at a public “pitch Competition” on April 11th, 6:00 pm, at the ILT studios inside the Davidson Opera House in St. Cloud.

For a registration link to the public pitch session, find the competition’s website here.

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