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Need a job? Start a company. Need a product to make? Invent one. That's the formula for success for the three winners of the New York Public Library's StartUP! Business Plan Competition Awards. The Science Business and Industry Library teams up with the Citi Foundation to award nearly $29,000 in cash prizes to small business owners with big ideas.

"What we do is not only give state money, but you get that all-important technical skills base, contact-making, networking," says Kristin McDonaugh of NYPL.

Some of the winning ideas are practical.

"My dresses save women time and effort," says Eileen Kim of Work to Play Dresses .

Kim's two-part dresses can go office formal to low-cut nightclub chic in the blink of an eye.

Carol Santiago turned a mothers concern into the Safe Snack company.

"My son Rafael, about five years ago, was diagnosed with multiple food intolerances," she says. "I invented these non-allergenic snacks for vending machines."

Jennifer Chu of Chu Shu NY turned her engineering background and knowledge of metallurgy into a shoe product.

"They basically absorb moisture, they prolong the lives of your shoes and they just keep your feet nice and clean," says Chu.

About 50 people entered this year's contest, and even those who did not win will still receive help organizing their business from the NYPL.

Organizers at SIBL are already on the lookout for next year's contestants.