STEUBENVILLE - The Big Idea contest didn't end with the presentation of awards earlier this month.

It continued with a workshop conducted by Joe Belinsky of the Small Business Development Center Monday for the entrants from Jefferson County who wanted to explore continuing the pursuit of turning ideas into business.

About 10 of the participants, out of the 17 county entrants, were at Eastern Gateway Community College for the seminar, which Belinsky said was "about learning the process of developing the idea."

The Big Idea contest was a nine-county event involving entrants with concepts for new or updates to existing products that could lead to a small business being founded.

The winner of the contest, which was conducted by the MCBI business incubator out of Zanesville, was a Cambridge man with a temperature-proofed softball that doesn't lose its rebound as temperatures and humidity rise.

Jefferson County's winners included Holly Minch-Hick and Willis Sears of Steubenville.

Minch-Hick's concept is for a modular infant travel seat system and Sears' idea is for an automated kitchen product dispenser.

Ed Looman, executive director of Progress Alliance, which was designated as a business contact hub by MCBI, explained Belinsky's training focused on a team-based concept.

"The idea is that no man or woman is an island when it comes to entrepreneurship," Looman said. "We had a lot of great ideas in this group today."

Looman said the seminar was the first step toward understanding what it takes to make a concept into a real business.

For those interested, further work with Belinsky and MCBI will be offered, including an upcoming business planning workshop and then individualized focus on each entrepreneur to help them get to a point where they can seek financing.

(Giannamore's e-mail address is pgiannamore@heraldstaronline.com.)