Big prize available to big thinkers

Do you have innovation and invention chops?

Then $50,000 could be yours through the Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention in Gainesville, which is hosting the fifth annual Cade Museum Prize competition. The contest bills itself the only annual statewide competition for entrepreneurs and inventors. It's open to all Florida residents and Florida-based companies.

Judges, according to contest organizers, seek to reward early-stage companies that advance creative ideas into the marketplace. “Judges will look at how creative and innovative an idea is, what demonstrable change the invention will have, and how far away the invention is from being a commercially viable product or service,” a release states.

Entries, 500 words or less, can be submitted at www.cademuseumprize.org. The deadline is Friday, Jan. 31.