The event was sponsored. Local folks and some national brands like Comcast and 5-hour energy. Winner gets a $5k prize.
Here is the event detail. http://www.automationalley.com/Events/Calendar/Event-Detail....
And the organizers have deleted the event details here (10pm EST)
Usually, the costs are covered by sponsors, and I can't find any indication that there were sponsors for this event.
EDIT: Comment is incorrect; there were sponsors, see child comment.