Lisa Daly impressed everyone so much with the development of asensory device for people with autism that she is on her way tostarting a new business.

Daly was the first place winner of the Rockville EconomicDevelopment's annual StartRight! business plan competition. Now inits ninth year, the contest aims to foster women in business byinvesting in female entrepreneurs to pitch a detailed business plan, whichare then put in the running for $20,000 in prizemoney.

Founder of Sensory Shield LLC in North Bethesda, Md., Dalydesigned a device for people who are highly sensitive to touch orhave difficulty processing information from their senses. Accordingto Daly, who said she is autistic herself, it is a condition commonin people with autism.

The $268 million Mid-Atlantic Federal Credit Union in Germantown, Md., recentlypresented Daly with a $5,000 check for winning the StartRight!competition.

She said she will use the money to help further the developmentof an apparatus that creates a physical barrier between two peoplewhen seated in a crowded location as well as to continue herbusiness.

All of the StartRight! winners were honored at REDI's recentWomen Business Center Power Conference in at the Bethesda MarriottHotel in Bethesda.

Based in Rockville, Md., REDI is a public-private partnershipformed in 1997 to strengthen and broaden the city's economic basethrough business recruitment, retention, and expansion programs,according to the organization's website.

This is the second year that Mid-Atlantic FCU has supported theStartRight! competition, said Michael Richardson, vice president ofcommunity relations.