title: Remove Blank Entry on DropDownList in MVC
body: <p>I have been looking but couldn't find any way to remove the blank item on my dropdown list.  Ideally, I would like to do this without altering the model.  I just want to remove the blank item from the dropdown list so that users are forced to select one (so they can't select "blank").</p>
  
  <p>Note:  I am using the default dropdown list that comes with the MVC framework.</p>
  
  <p>Here is my code:</p>
  
  <pre><code>' controller action:
  
  ViewBag.CompanyId = New SelectList(db.Companies, "CompanyId", "Name")
  
  ' view:
  
  @Html.DropDownList("CompanyId", String.Empty)
  @Html.ValidationMessageFor(Function(model) model.CompanyId)
  </code></pre>