The winners of DePaul University's Creativity Contest, an annual business plan competition to cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit, were announced on May 13. First place winners were:

High school student category:

Mike Triffler, a Niles North High School student from Skokie, won first place for "Lefty Retail Store," a business proposal for a retail store with items tailored to left-handed people.

Undergraduate college student category:

Kyle Porter, a DePaul student, won first place for his promotion and advertising idea involving ATM machines.

General public or graduate student category:

Jill Johnson of Waukegan won first prize for her business proposal involving a respiratory monitoring device designed to save babies from sudden infant death syndrome.

The contest was sponsored by DePaul's entrepreneurship program, DePaul's Ryan Center for Creativity and Innovation, and the Coleman Foundation. Winners and finalists split $2,025 in cash prizes donated by the Coleman Foundation. Nine finalists presented their business plans before a panel of four judges during the competition held at DePaul's College of Commerce.