You Inc. Winners Receive $5,000 Business Grant

Dec. 21, 2005 — -- More than 2,000 women entered the You Inc. contest for a chance to win a $5,000 grant to start a small business. Today, "Good Morning America" and Accion USA announced the winners -- Jody Williams and Trina Woelfle.

Williams is a mother of three and was a foster parent for more than nine years. During her foster-parenting days, Williams cared for more than 20 children, many of whom had special needs. Her company, Bundiebaby, will design and manufacture special-needs clothing for children. The clothing will have special pockets and ties that hold medical devices.

"I decided one night after working with this one foster baby who kept pulling his feed tube out of his nose, I decided to use my two degrees in fashion design and make an outfit that would stop him from pulling these tubes out," Williams said. "That's how it began. There are so many other parents out there that could benefit from something like this."

Woelfle also saw a need for services in her world of high school athletics. Woelfle is a physical education teacher and coach in Reno, Nev. Over the years, she has seen athletes give up on their dreams of playing at the collegiate level because they were not heavily recruited.

"One kid a couple of years ago, his name was Stevie," Woelfle said. "He was kind of quiet and he was a triple jumper and real tall and had tons of potential. And I said to him: 'You need to let people know that you want to run and be a triple jumper in college.' And he wanted to do it, and his family didn't know how."

Woelfle's company -- Next Play Productions -- will help high school athletes get exposure. Woelfle will create three-minute to five-minute DVDs of high school athletes in competition, which they can send to college coaches. As part of the service, Next Play Productions will also provide research on colleges that may be a good match with individual athletes.

In addition to the $5,000 grants provided by Accion USA -- a company that provides small-business loans -- Williams and Woelfle will both receive support from financial contributor Mellody Hobson, workplace contributor Tory Johnson and real estate expert Barbara Corcoran.

"GMA" will follow Williams' and Woelfle's progress as they get their businesses off the ground.