The SMART Center in downtown Greenville will be the location for the 2022 Kickoff Event of the Metro East Startup Challenge, being facilitated by the Illinois Small Business Development Center at SIUE.
The event will be from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, July 14.
The program encourages individuals to develop a business plan to identify, encourage and reward excellence in entrepreneurship.
It is a competition with cash prizes and in-kind professional services to the top four winners.
Those with a business idea or a new business in the Metro East area, including Bond, Fayette and Montgomery counties, can participate. They must be a for profit business, and if already open, must have been established after April 30, 2019.
In addition, women, minorities or veterans must possess at least 51 percent ownership in the company.
Interested individuals can register for Thursday meeting at ilsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/events/36608.
