This isn't the type of Iowa polling story you've grown accustomed to reading recently. Nope, there are no straws here — just the potential for one Iowa entrepreneur to win up to $15,000 in prizes.

Online voting for the Dream Big Des Moines small business contest began Tuesday and will continue until Aug. 31. The Dream Big Des Moines entry with the most votes at the end of the polling process will win $5,000 and advance to compete for an additional $10,000 in the statewide Dream Big Grow Here contest. Dream Big Grow Here is sponsored by MyEntre.Net, a program of the University of Northern Iowa. Dream Big Des Moines, which encompasses a swath of central Iowa, is facilitated by Mike Colwell at the Business Innovation Zone.

Seven big dreams form central Iowa are on the ballot. The seven and their creators (whose profiles and pitch videos are available on the Dream Big site):

• bHeroic, by Robert Hidajat (Ames)
• Locusic, by Jake Kerber (Ankeny) 
• Finalize It, by Drew Larson (Ames)
• SquareTap, by Matthew Nuzum (Ankeny)
• RealEstateFanPages, by Matthew Smith (Des Moines)
• Introvio, by Mike Templeton (Ankeny)
• DriveOr, by Ciara Vesey (Des Moines) 

Note: Silicon Prairie News is a media sponsor of Dream Big Des Moines