Port of Whitman de-funds business plan contest

The open Port of Whitman/WSU business plan competition has been put on hold after Port commissioners voted to de-fund their $15,000 investment in prize money.

The annual competition has honored local start-ups since 2007.

“We’ve been evaluating the usefulness of the competition,” said Debbie Snell, Properties and Development Manager for the Port of Whitman. “We need to re-evaluate whether it’s the best way to spend our economic development dollar.”

The deadline for this year’s contest was to be Feb. 10. The Port voted on Jan. 17 to hold back their investment.

The Southeast Washington Economic...