CLINTON, Ill. (WAND) - A bank has awarded $10,000 to local businesses as part of an area program. 

The money was awarded by First National Bank & Trust Company as part of its annual REV competition, which is aimed to help small business owners "ignite" their companies, a Tuesday press release said. Each company had a chance to pitch their business ideas for 10 minutes and take questions for another five minutes. 

A panel of four judges heard the pitches. It included Josh Shofner, president of First National Bank & Trust Company, Clinton School District Superintendent Curt Nettles, Clinton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marian Brisard and DeWitt County Farm Bureau Manager Allie Reinecke. 

The winners for 2019 were C&P Custom Printing, K&K Graphics and The Yoga Space. 

C&P plans to use the $5,000 it earned for buy a dryer, with the goal of increasing business efficiency by 40 percent. 

"We are so grateful to be one of the REV grant recipients," said business co-owner Meghan Morge. "The funds will be used for a tunnel dryer and go towards other new equipment which will allow us to be more efficient and reduce the amount of time it takes to complete orders." 

The bank awarded $3,000 to K&K, which plans to buy a lift to allow sign jobs for highly elevated signs - opportunities it had to turn down in the past. The Yoga Space earned $2,000, which will be used to buy a mobile app and financial reporting software, allowing it to find a more meaningful way to engage clients and grow the business. 

Fist National Bank & Trust Company said in the release it believes success of a community is "based on the strength of its small businesses". It launched REV in 2017 and has awarded $30,000 to local business through it since. 

Applications for the 2020 REV program open in 2020. More information is available at this link.Â