The National Housing Trust is offering more than $20 million in cash and business incubation and support services to residents of its housing schemes who come up with viable business ideas.

The NHT’s Entrepreneurship and Social Venture Challenge is a component of the biennial NHT Best Schemes Competition, and is a means of helping home owners to pay their mortgages. It is also open to community-based groups.

The Best Schemes Competition is now in its 22nd year. The Entrepreneurship Challenge was first launched in 2013 and is now having its second staging.

A response issued through the NHTs communication department indicates that the competition seeks to highlight and encourage creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship originating at the community level.

“The NHT Entrepreneurship and Social Venture Challenge aims to support initiatives that can drive income generation and create employment which in turn will enable NHT residents to be better able to meet their mortgage and contribution payments,” it was stated

The NHT said the Social Venture component was added as a means of facilitating the development of more financially independent community groups with income streams gained from productive processes.

The profits are used for infrastructural development and social change in the communities, the NHT said.

At the close of the competition this year, 926 entries were received. A total of 55 businesses and business ideas were selected for business development and management in the last competition.

From that 55, eight were selected as finalists and received recognition from the NHT. All finalists are currently in operation, the NHT said.

The 2016/2017 competition offers more than $20 million in cash and business incubation and support services specific to the needs and requirements of the awardee.

Ten million dollars will be made available to individual businesses, while the remaining $10 million will be made available to social ventures being operated by community groups.

The challenge aims to convert promising ideas emerging from NHT schemes into commercial opportunities. The 2014/2015 Entrepreneurial Challenge winner was Jennifer Jones, operator of Nature’s Premium in Portland who makes products from coconut oil.