Project Epiphany is June's $10k Winner!

A Plan to Bring Astronomy to the Inner City Wins the National ideablob.com^® Contest for June's Best Small Business Idea

Atlanta resident Jessica Hammock, a Teach for America alum and doctoral student at Emory University, will develop astronomy curriculums for underprivileged youth. Hammock will use ideablob's $10,000 prize to purchase telescopes and offset startup expenses.

SPRING HOUSE, Penn., July 10, 2008 — Advanta Corp. (NASDAQ: ADVNB; ADVNA) announced today that Jessica Hammock of Atlanta, Ga. is the June winner of ideablob.com's monthly contest for the best small business idea, as voted on by the ideablob community.

Hammock’s company, Project Epiphany, offers urban elementary and middle school students the chance to use real telescopes to learn the principles of astronomy and explore the night sky. Hammock hopes the project will inspire future astronomers and provide children with hands-on activities and astronomy field trips to dark sky sites where students can see the stars in a way that is impossible in an urban environment.

This innovative collaboration among after-school programs, science educators and astronomers provides elementary and middle school students with the resources necessary to explore unique lunar, solar, planetary and deep space phenomena.

“Project Epiphany has grown naturally out of my interests in science education and social justice,” said Hammock. "With this award from ideablob.com, I’ll be able to get kids out of the city to experience real astronomy with real equipment.” 

Hammock plans to use most of the $10,000 prize to buy equipment like a solar telescope, so kids can look at the sun during the day. She also plans to use the award money to pay for web design and additional field trips. 

“The ideablob community picked eight women finalists for the month of June, and three of them, including our winner, were Teach For America alumni,” said Ami Kassar, Advanta’s Chief Innovation Officer. “We’re proud to have our June winner involved in a project that helps America’s youth aim for a better future."

The two Teach For America (TFA) alumni that joined Hammock in the finals were Elizabeth Devlin and Efe Osagie. Devlin’s idea was called Girl Talk: Read to Achieve, and Efe's idea was titled Meaningful Education in Africa. TFA’s mission is to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting future leaders to teach in underprivileged areas. Currently, some 5,000 TFA corps members teach in 26 urban and rural regions profoundly affected by the achievement gap.

Ideablob.com is an active community where small business owners and entrepreneurs are sharing business ideas and receiving feedback, advice and support from the community. Experts from various industries take part in the ideablob discussions and offer their input on how burgeoning entrepreneurs can capitalize on their ideas.

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. In recent months, Advanta has awarded the monthly prize to software developers, non-profit leaders and several social entrepreneurs.
 

To review the ideas submitted by past ideablob winners, please visit www.ideablob.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. 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.

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08/19

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