Thirteen regional businesses, including five Minnesota contenders, will compete on Wednesday to move forward in the Clean Tech Open's Business Competition, a contest that awards winning early stage clean-tech companies with services and cash.

Three of the 13 businesses in Clean Tech Open's North Central division will be named regional finalists at a Minneapolis event on Wednesday. The three businesses will receive investment and services worth $30,000 and move on to compete in the competition's final round against other finalists across the U.S. in November. The national winner will receive $250,000 worth of investment and services.

Minnesota companies competing for the regional finalist positions are listed below. The five companies are already semi-finalists in Clean Tech Open's contest.

-Earth Clean, creator of a non-toxic gel to kill fires and Minnesota Cup winner.

-Easy Energy Systems, manufacturer of ethanol production systems.

-Environmental Technologies, a company that takes organic waste and converts it to renewable natural gas.

-NewWater, a company that is developing a biocatalyst-based water filter. NewWater is being led by two recent University of Minnesota graduates.

-BioCee, an industrial biotechnology company

Note: This post has been updated from an earlier version.