ideablob.com announces March's winner

 Boston-based fair trade firm wins $20,000 for best small business idea in national ideablob.com^® contest

Congratulations to John Studer, March 2008's ideablob contest winner!

http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/1699-Sweatshop-free-organic-T-shirts

Studer is CFO of No Sweat Apparel, the Boston-based fair trade pioneer that produces clothing and sneakers at sweatshop-free union factories in the United States, Canada and the developing world. Studer's winning idea is for the company to continue producing their newest line of organic cotton knit t-shirts at a Palestinian-owned factory on Virgin Mary Street in Bethlehem. To date, No Sweat has sold about 50,000 of these Palestinian-made t-shirts in the United States, England and Israel.

Studer is the second Advanta Business Cards customer to win the monthly ideablob contest. As a result, he is eligible to receive 1,000,000 rewards points on his Advanta BusinessCard (or the $10,000 cash alternative) in addition to the $10,000 monthly contest prize. Advanta will present Studer, who chose the cash alternative, with his $20,000 award at noon tomorrow during a ceremony at the No Sweat Apparel office in Boston.

"We've found a rare piece of common ground for all in t-shirts," explains No Sweat CEO Adam Neiman. "While not a substitute for diplomatic settlement, more good jobs for Palestinians on the West Bank will definitely help. In the meantime, we've created a mechanism for ordinary citizens to build goodwill on the ground and support the peace to come."

No Sweat is marketing these t-shirts wholesale (custom printed) to Jewish, Muslim, Christian and secular schools and camps in the United States, Canada and Israel. According to Studer and Neiman, the project has the active support of the Palestinian and Israeli foreign ministries, and has drawn rave reviews in Muslim and Jewish media outlets. However, they claim that finding adequate resources has been a huge challenge.

Ideablob.com is a vibrant and active community where small business owners and entrepreneurs are sharing business ideas in exchange for feedback, advice and votes from the community. Advanta, one of the nation's largest credit card issuers (through Advanta Bank Corp.) in the small business market, awards a $10,000 monthly prize to the best eligible idea, as determined by the votes of the ideablob community. To date, Advanta has paid out prize money to entrepreneurs in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Boston and State College, PA.

"Five of our six winners to date consider themselves social entrepreneurs," said Ami Kassar, Advanta's Chief Innovation Officer. "It's interesting and gratifying that the ideablob community continues to vote for novel business ideas that have been created to make lasting, positive change."

Studer was one of eight finalists competing for March's prize. The eight finalists competing for April's $10,000 contest prize are currently featured on ideablob.com, and the ideablob community has through April 30 to vote for April's best business idea. To review the ideas submitted by past ideablob winners, please visit http://www.ideablob.com//.  For more information about the company (or to order a t-shirt), visit their web site at http://www.nosweatapparel.com/.

There is no purchase necessary to enter the ideablob.com^® Contest. Contest began on 9/24/07 at 12:00:00 am CT and ends on 9/30/08 at 11:59:59 pm CT. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. states and D.C. who are of the legal age of majority in their state of residence at the time of entry. Void where prohibited. To be eligible for the rewards points portion of the prize, you must have an Advanta BusinessCard Account in good standing. All awarded points are subject to the Advanta Business Rewards Program Rules. Residents of AZ, MD, NJ, ND, TN and VT are not eligible for rewards points portion of the prize. Official Rules are available online at www.ideablob.com. Sponsored by Advanta Bank Corp., PO Box 30715, Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0715. Ideablob and ideablob.com are registered service marks owned by Advanta Bank Corp.  

About Advanta
Advanta is one of the nation's largest credit card issuers (through Advanta Bank Corp.) in the small business market today. Advanta's exclusive focus on this market, as well as its size, experience and commitment to developing meaningful product offerings and a high level of service tailored to the needs of small businesses, differentiates the company from other issuers. Founded in 1951, Advanta has long been an innovator in developing and introducing many of the marketing techniques that are common in the financial services industry today. Learn more about Advanta at www.advanta.com.