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Student business idea wins $10,000

Solar panel cleaning system pays off for Fresno State team.

Sunday, May. 02, 2010 | 12:02 AM

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Five budding entrepreneurs put forth their best pitches Saturday in the fifth annual Dream It, Win It competition, vying for glory and a top prize of $10,000.

The winner was Simple Solar Cleaning Systems, an automated cleaning system for residential solar panel installations, said Tim Stearns, director of the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State.

Simple Solar was one of four Fresno State teams in the finals.

Dream It, Win It is organized by the Lyles Center and the Coleman Foundation, a Chicago-based nonprofit group focused on entrepreneurship education.

Some of this year's judging was a particularly tasty task: El Colegio Taco, a team from Fresno City College, handed out tacos as part of its presentation on its mobile food service with made-to-order tacos for evening students and workers on community college campuses.

El Colegio Taco netted the second-place award and a prize of $4,000, Stearns said.

Community Fun Pack, a company using local coupon pack sales as a way for nonprofit groups to raise money, took third place and a $1,000 award, he said.

The finalists were "all pretty high quality," Stearns said. "And they're designed to be successful."


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