Entrepreneurs eligible for area awards | Arts & Culture

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) –To promote businesses, entrepreneurs and higher-paying jobs in the area, UNCW’s Entrepreneurship Center and the Greater Wilmington Business Journal will be presenting the Coastal Entrepreneur Awards this spring, according to a release from a Business Journal spokesperson.

Any company, new or old, in New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties is eligible, and according to a statement, businesses submitted for consideration “…Must be actively engaged in entrepreneurial activity – creating new products or services for people in the Wilmington region or beyond.”

Companies can either submit applications themselves or be nominated by clicking here.

Nominees will go through two rounds of judging. Category winners will be chosen by a group of judges selected from area business leaders as well as the competition’s sponsors.

From there, category winners will go individually before a separate panel of business people deemed to be "successful." That group will then decide on the recipient of the 2012 Coastal Entrepreneur of the Year.  

Winners will be chosen for the following categories:

• Biotechnology Film
• Health Care
• Internet-Related Business
• Manufacturing & Distribution
• Non-Profit
• Retail & Hospitality
• Professional Services
• Technology
• Emerging Company (a company from any industry that is less than two years old and with three

Recipients of category awards will be profiled in an April edition of the Business Journal.

They will also be honored at an awards breakfast at UNCW in May, where the winner of the 2012 Coastal Entrepreneur of the Year will be announced.

The application deadline to enter is March 21 at 5 p.m.

For more information, email Suesan Sullivan at ssullivan@wilmingtonbiz.com.

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