A good health-care idea could win $10,000 prize

UnitedHealthcare will award $10,000 to a small business with a big idea for improving  community health and wellness in the  Richmond area.

BizWorks Enterprise Center and UnBoundRVA will partner with the health insurer to identify the winning project.

Richmond-area businesses with two to 100 employees are eligible to submit project ideas through an online application through Sept. 17. All projects must involve partnerships with local nonprofit organizations.

Judges, including local health care experts and business leaders, will evaluate the project submissions and select the top five based on criteria such as community impact, creativity and feasibility.

The top five applicants and representatives from their benefiting nonprofits will be invited to a live pitch and networking event where the UnitedHealthcare Community Care Award winner will be selected.

Last year, Simply Ballroom, a Southside dance studio, took home the $10,000 prize. It teaches therapeutic dance to Parkinson’s disease patients.

Simply Ballroom used the money to expand its programming and hosted a spring recital for the Richmond Parkinson’s Dance Project.

To get more information and apply for the UnitedHealthcare Community Care Award, visit: www.uhc.com/communitycare.