Local Businesses Boosting Themselves through Forbes

Notwithstanding the MBTA's inability to create its own iPhone app, five tech-minded Massachusetts companies have made it to the semi-final round of Forbes Magazine's "Boost Your Business" competition. i-Nalysis of Concord, Plank of Charlestown, INeedAPencil.com and Ksplice of Cambridge, and Audissey Guides of straight-up Boston make up a quarter of the Fortune semi-finalists. A rundown of the operations:

Audissey produces audio tours of cities (like Boston, the Athens of America), companies, and organizations that folks can buy to put on rental iPods. Continuing today's iPhone app theme, the company would like to use any Fortune capital to develop such an app. i-Nalysis creates X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzers that kids can use to test materials for the presence of hazardous content like lead or mercury. INeedAPencil.com provides free SAT prep services for low-income students, and wants funding to develop a 10-week "sprint" prep program. Plank makes special designs for yoga mats, while Ksplice solves the annoying problem of having to restart your computer after software updates.

If one of these businesses appeals to you above the rest, or if you'd like to check out what the other semi-finalists are up to, visit the voting site to help decide who should get the top prize: $50,000 in cash and $50,000 in advertising on Forbes.com.