Peninsula College Entrepreneur Institute and the Incubator @ Lincoln Center will present the Entrepreneur Challenge 2009, a business plan competition.

Interested participants from the North Olympic Peninsula who have an idea to start or grow a business are being sought for this year's event that will offer a $5,000 first-place award and two runner-up awards of $1,000.

This is the third year for this competition sponsored by

First Federal.

Individuals or teams interested in competing must submit an intent-to-enter form to the Entrepreneur Institute at the Lincoln Center, 905 W. Ninth St., Port Angeles, by 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27.

This form provides notification of participation in the competition and does not require a draft business plan.

The competition consists of a written business plan and oral presentation of the plan. Following the submission of the intent-to-enter forms, completed business plans will be due by April 10.

The preliminary round on April 22 includes a 15-minute oral presentation. The top candidates advance to the final round on May 13. The competition concludes with announcement of the awards at the Entrepreneur Challenge Celebration on May 14.

The Entrepreneur Challenge Celebration also features entrepreneur guest speaker Nelson Ludlow, Ph.D., chief executive officer, director and founder of Intelli Check Mobilisa Inc. of Port Townsend.

Previous winners of the Entrepreneur Challenge competition include The Remediators, Inc., a company that offers biological cleanup of contaminated land, and EcycleNW that recycles electronic equipment. These innovative companies have grown into viable businesses operating in the North Olympic Peninsula.

For information, call Linty Hopie, Peninsula College entrepreneurship coordinator, at 417-6504 or at pceinstitute.com.