Mankato entrepreneur looks beyond Forbes

Winning the Forbes.com "Boost Your Business" competition would have brought April Femrite's bamboo fiber clothing business needed capital and advertising money.

It wasn't to be. The Mankato entrepreneur found out late this week she was a runner up in the competition. But she's already looking ahead.

We featured Femrite in a Tuesday post that looked at her efforts to start her business. Local, entrepreneurial, socially conscious. Minnesota, we argued, has a lot riding on April Femrite and others like her.

Late Friday, Femrite dropped us a note with her next steps.

I will continue a grass roots effort to increase both on-line and retail store sales. I have submitted several investor applications through a software program called angelsoft.net in hopes to attract angel investors who believe in my mission. I will continue to develop and test new products.

Naturally Bamboo is currently a finalist for the ISPO Brand New Awards. Winners will be notified in January and receive a free both at the world's largest sports show in Munich Germany.

Femrite recently blogged about her Forbes experience. "2009 has been quite the trying year, as it has for many small businesses," she wrote, "but somehow we still survived it."

• Mpls. Fed chief: More inflation could aid economy
• Target solved its payment security issues, but couldn’t solve Canada
• Twin Cities home prices up 10 percent