Over the past year, I’ve devoted plenty of space to new efforts that aim to encourage entrepreneurship in St. Louis. There are meet-and-greet events with classes on how to make an elevator pitch, and coming up soon a symposium about how to launch and sustain a high-tech company.

With the economy slow to rebound and jobs still at a premium, these networking conferences are a welcome addition to the calendar. But well before the recession began, at a time when seed money was easier to come by, there opened up an opportunity for entrepreneurs with business plans to get a major lift.

In 2005, Washington University initiated the Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Competition, run through its Skandalaris Center. Now in its sixth year, the contest still gives entrepreneurs with socially conscious ventures a chance to win $150,000 in grant money that will be awarded to winners on April 15.

Seven groups over the weekend had a chance to celebrate their spot as finalists. Representatives from 16 organizations had 90 seconds to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges late last week during the semifinal round of what’s now called the YouthBridge SEIC.

The competition gives the groups involved a major financial incentive, and it gives the rest of us a chance to gauge the range of altruistic programs and ideas that are deemed worthy of funding. A quick look at the finalists reveals the breadth of issues being addressed:

• City Greens Produce aims to provide access to fresh, local and affordable produce to people in low-income communities, as well as to help Missouri farmers. 
• Washington University students started the nonprofit Crafts By Youth that allows young people in Uganda to earn money by creating paper bead jewelry.
• St. Louis Dancing Classrooms is a program, similar to the one portrayed in the film Mad Hot Ballroom, that uses dance to teach lessons about teamwork to students in St. Louis schools.
• The One Percent Foundation supports a range of organizations by persuading young adults to pool their funds (they pledge to donate at least 1 percent of their income to philanthropy each year) and time.
• GiveChange is a project that aims to make it easier to make charitable contributions online.
• Bringing awareness to eating disorders is the mission behind The Dahlia Partnership, which trains people in the education world about detecting early signs of the disorder and methods of intervention. 
• The nonprofit Our Lady’s Inn, which serves homeless pregnant women and their children, runs the Twice Blessed Resale Shop to develop a sustainable revenue stream from their excess in-kind donations.

That’s it for the brief rundown. Look for profiles of some of these organizations in the coming weeks.