 The idea competition has inducted a Bemidji family into the Regional Hall of Fame. Lakeland News reporter Cheryl Moore has a recap of the ceremony. The idea competition is in its 10th year. And last night's ceremony proved that Northwest Minnesota is a place where ingenuity thrives. This year there was probably a wider range of ideas than in the past. And something we can be proud of in the fact that I think all of the finalists will really be able to take that next step with the seed money that they're awarded tonight. Every year, one trailblazer in the industry is inducted into the Idea Hall of Fame. For the 10th anniversary, the idea competition decided to honor a Bemidji family with a long history in the community, the Batchelder family. We've operated in our current location on the corner of 3rd Street and Irving Avenue in historic downtown Bemidji since 1929. We started just a couple blocks away on the Sulein Railroad right away, but in 1929 opportunity presented itself and we moved over to our current location. In its nearly 100-year history, the Bemidji World Mills has served people from all over the world. The place is also a true family business. Five generations have worked in the store so far. Every single day is something interesting happens. A new individual calls up, a new customer is born. Continually, that continuum of the next generation of a family member running the bowling mills to the next generation of a customer that comes in. While the Batchelder family was getting honored, three other businesses received the honor of winning this year's competition. They include Carolyn Hayden, a dress designer from Crookston, Real Good Bath & Body, which produces high-quality body products also from Crookston, and Safety Transfer of Bemidji, which specializes in equipment that makes hospital patient transfer easier. Northwest Minnesota Small Business Development Center consultant Grant Opigard was also honored with the first-ever Regional Impact Award. We help clients who are looking for $2-3 million loans or $10-15,000 loans, and many of them will have their own new ideas and the idea of competition really centers in on many of them, that many of the new entrepreneurs who have actually developed patentable items. Reporting of Bemidji, Shiramur, Lakeland News. If you're interested in being the next big entrepreneur, the application to submit an idea to the idea of competition will open up again in September. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.