PHILADELPHIA, March 1, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Entrepreneurs will take center stage March 11, in Philadelphia, for the 10th Annual Ben Franklin Emerging Business Awards (Bennies). This year's event will take place at the Wyndham Franklin from 6:00 - 8:30pm.
For the last nine years, co-founders The Entrepreneurs' Forum of Greater Philadelphia and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania have presented the awards to highlight and promote area companies in recognition of entrepreneurs for their outstanding efforts and achievements with breakthrough technologies, product innovations and management excellence. Each winning company will receive a $1,000 cash prize and will be put on the fast track to investment capital.
Competing for Most Innovative Product are: 3-One-2 LLC, Chaperone Technologies, and Rajant Corp.
In the running for Most Innovative Service are: Collages.net, NetXentry, and ParagonRX.
Vying for Best Management Team are: Driveitaway.com, InternetSeer.com Corp., and IPR International, LLC.
Finalists for the Biotech Company of the Year award are: Acuity Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Gentis Inc., and Immune Control.
The nominees for the Iris Newman Award are: Gerianne Tringali DiPiano of FemmePharma, Inc. and Kimberle Levin, TEKNUKO Technologies.
New to the award show is the Alumni Award, recognizing previous winners who have gone on to succeed. The award was pre-announced at a breakfast event hosted by Blank Rome LLP. The winner was Morphotek Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and co-development of monoclonal antibodies for treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders, and other serious diseases. Morphotek won the Biotech Company of the Year award at the 2002 Bennies.
BDO Seidman LLP, Blank Rome LLP, and S.R.One, Limited, are the 2004 Ben Franklin Emerging Business Awards premier sponsors.
Tickets for the "Bennies" Awards program are $125. For more information, please contact the Entrepreneurs' Forum of Greater Philadelphia at (215) 640-3339 or visit www.benfranklinawards.org.