 It's been over three weeks since destination downtown was kicked off by the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce and the competition has seen a positive response. So far, 16 applications have been submitted for the competition that has a grand prize of $50,000 for an up-and-coming business to move into downtown Brainerd. The competition is a stepping stone towards revitalizing the area and the chair of the judging committee says he's happy with what he's seen for the response so far. You know, going into something like this, you always wonder who's going to apply and what kind of businesses and I tried to guess on what types of businesses we're going to go out for something like this and I have been surprised by it. There's been so many good ones and we're hearing that there's a lot more people that want to apply and just haven't gotten there yet and I definitely want to encourage them. There's still time. Please send in your application. We would be excited to see it and just for the continued growth of the downtown Brainerd business community. These four destination downtown will continue to be taken through July 29th. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.