Cincinnati Innovates competition adds consumer products category

In a city that's home to branding, retail and consumer powerhouses like Procter & Gamble, Macy's Inc., LPK and Nielsen, it's natural that Cincinnati Innovates would add a consumer products category to the annual invention competition.

"Being such a cool consumer marking town, we have a ton of consumer product ideas. We want to help people with ideas get their product on the shelf," says Cincinnati Innovates founder Elizabeth Edwards.

Edwards, CEO of Metro Innovation, launched Cincinnati Innovates in 2009 to spur investment in innovative products and services across Greater Cincinnati. Since its founding, several similar contests have sprung up across the region to drive dollars to ideas.

Cincinnati Innovates competitors this year will vie for $100,000 in cash prizes and awards. This year's contest runs until July 15, with a $1,000 early bird prize up for grabs May 30. To enter to contest, go the the Cincinnati Innovates website. Winners will be announced Aug. 16 at Northern Kentucky University.

Cincinnati Innovates entries have been heavy on software, medical and web-based ideas, but the contest always saw a fair share of consumer products. By creating a new category for these products alone, Cincinnati Innovates' partners hope to better nurture those ideas.

CPG Strategies will award $25,000 in services to a consumer product seeking retail distribution. In addition, a new class will be added to Cincinnati Innovates' annual lineup of complementing entrepreneurship courses. The course will be based on the book CPG 101: Strategies to Get Your Consumer Product to Market, by CPG founder David Towner.

Since 2009, Cincinnati Innovates winners have earned $250,000, and have leveraged an additional $5 million in investments.

Other prizes include:

• A $2,000 HYPE Community Choice Award
• Two commercialization awards of $25,000 and $10,000 from CincyTech
• $10,000 in branding and design services from LPK
• A $5,000 video production award from 7/79

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By Feoshia Henderson
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