The annual Business Plan Contest Presentation and Award Ceremony, hosted by the School of Business and Campus Auxiliary Services, is returning to campus on Wednesday, May 4.
The annual contest gives students an opportunity to test their knowledge in business settings. Students will be researching and developing an idea and will then turn it into a practical and profitable business plan. This contest is an opportunity for students to expand their knowledge of business. Participants gain stronger marketable skills and increased confidence in their abilities.
“Students who participated in the past said that the contest contributed toward making them a more educated, informed person,” said Hadi Salavitabar, dean of the School of Business. “Students felt the contest was a great opportunity to be involved in a real business team project and gain experience that cannot be learned in the classroom.”
There will be nine teams of students, with three to five students on a team, that will present their business plans before a panel of five judges from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 12:45 to 2:45 p.m. Each team will have 15 minutes to present their business plan and the panel of judges will have five minutes to ask each team questions.
The judges will award teams points on a scale of 100 based on the on-time submission of their report and presentation, quality, thoroughness and coherence of the quality, effectiveness, feasibility of the plan, profitability of the plan and the novelty of the idea.
Danielle Semenchuk, director of Business Projects, said students gain valuable skills while participating in the annual business plan contest that gives them an edge in today’s job market.
“[Students] appreciated the opportunity to work with other individuals to create a plan that incorporated all fields of business. Students said they learned important skills that they will need for their careers, such as teamwork, communication, leadership and networking skills,” said Salavitabar.
According to Professor Kevin Caskey, no information about the plans and how unique they are this year can be given out ahead of time.
Some students have been working on their plans throughout the entire semester.
“Caskey makes sure that we have the required data by giving us assignments throughout the semester [in our Entrepreneurship and Business Plan class],” said Derya Eden, an MBA student. “The hardest part is that we are not allowed to talk about projects in class, since we are ‘rivals.’”
The contest, which is open to the whole campus, is an excellent opportunity for students, said Salavitabar. Past participants have been in different majors from economics to sociology.
The first and second place teams will receive a scholarship.
To see the results please join the teams and judges in Student Union rooms 62 and 63 on Wednesday, May 4 at 3:15 p.m.
Anyone interested in participating in future contests should attend the Kick Off Event in October 2011 and register for the Entrepreneurship and Business Plan Course in the spring.