The deadline for applications for this year’s Washington Coast Works Sustainable Small Business Competition is May 22. Up to 15 finalists will be selected for intensive training, network building and a chance to win up to $10,000 to move their business ideas forward.

The competition is open to people from coastal communities on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula with ideas for small businesses that build leadership, keep money local and contribute to the conservation of local natural resources. Applications and instructions can be downloaded at www.wacoastworks.org/apply.

Washington Coast Works was established by The Nature Conservancy, in collaboration with the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship, the Taala Fund and the Olympic Natural Resources Center. The program is designed to diversify the economies in Pacific, Wahkiakum, Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Clallam counties through the development of new small businesses, build business leadership in local communities, grow a constituency that supports conservation and sustainable natural resource use, and ultimately contribute to a new vision of sustainable community and economic development on the Washington Coast.

To date, 30 emerging entrepreneurs have participated in the Coast Works competition with a wide range of “triple bottom line” business ideas including fish waste-infused biochar fertilizer, sustainably foraged bog Labrador tea, paper-crete landscaping materials, community food waste digesters, Quileute-caught fresh smoked salmon, off-grid ecological learning centers, local food cooperatives, sustainable farming, bio-diesel powered stump grinding, sustainable tiny homes, and many more.

To learn more about the competition, visit www.wacoastworks.org or contact Mike Skinner, Coast Works administrator, at 206-235-6029.