There is even more prize money at stake in the 2008 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Business Plan Competition. The new NCED Commissioners’ Award and a $2,500 cash prize will be presented to the students whose business plan best serves the economic development needs of rural Nevada.

The Nevada Commission on Economic Development (NCED) created the new Commissioners’ Award to recognize the agency’s past commissioners for their leadership in economic development. The award is designed to promote the development and success of small businesses in rural Nevada.

NCED will judge the business plan entries from both the undergraduate and graduate Governor’s Cup participants for the Commissioners’ Award.

This year NCET plans on doing even more outreach to increase participation in the business plan competition by students in Nevada’s rural areas.

The Governor’s Cup is open to all Nevada college and university students.

Students must commit to the competition by February 15, 2008 and turn in completed business plans by March 17, 2008. Students participating in the Governor’s Cup competition will present their business plans and have them judged in March. Finalists will then present their business plans in Reno during the week of April 21, 2008 with an awards luncheon following in Las Vegas at the Green Valley Ranch on April 25.

First and second place undergraduate and graduate Governor’s Cup winners will then travel to the Red Rock Casino Hotel in Las Vegas on May 14, 2008 to compete for the Tri-State Reynolds Cup. They will be competing against the Governor’s Cup winners from Arkansas and Oklahoma for a share of additional cash prizes.

For more information on NCET, contact Dave Archer at 315-7635 or Dave@NCET.org or visit www.ncet.org. For more information about the Governor’s Cup Competition, visit www.2008GovCup.com.

If you want to compete in this years Governor’s Cup business plan competition, get started now – good business plans can take months to develop, said Rahul Bhargava, chair of the managerial sciences department.

Individuals and teams of up to five need to make their commitment to the competition by Feb. 15 and turn in their plan by March 17. The competition, open to undergraduate and graduate students, awards $200,000 in prizes. A panel of judges select the best plans.

Rishi Tiwari, a University of Nevada, Reno student that competed and won in last year’s Governor’s Cup with her interdisciplinary team NanoVation Inc., spent weeks creating the business plan for their product Energy Harvester, a product that converts wasted vibration energy into useful electrical energy. She found the competition to be very beneficial.

“We worked very hard for it,” Tiwari said. “We had weeks of sleepless nights and discussions. Each team member contributed a lot toward it.”

Dave Archer, CEO of Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, which host the event, said most teams in previous Governor’s Cup competitions were engineering, technical and business teams. Archer encourages teams from other fields such as journalism, arts and medicine to enter business plans related to their fields.

“It doesn’t have to be technical,” Archer said. “It’s really only limited by the student’s imagination.”

Bhargava noted how beneficial the Governor’s Cup Competition is to students interested in entrepreneurship as it forces students to learn key values about planning out a business.

“This is providing a great opportunity for students to get their business plan funded,” Bhargava said. “It also gives students an opportunity to get feedback. Some of the judges are venture capitalists and provide excellent feedback.”

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“PUTTING OUT THE CALL”…

TMCC (Truckee Meadows Community College), TMCC-HS (Truckee Meadows Community College High School) and SilverSky Group LLC are co-hosting the TMCC / SilverSky Business Plan Competition, which will conclude with oral presentations given by the six finalist teams, and an award ceremony, on February 1, 2008.

As they make plans to engage TMCC, TMCC-HS and UNR students to participate in this competition, they need to find business/personal partnerships within the community to help us put on this important event.

Their goal is to encourage the importance of developing high quality business ideas and business plans, as well as to provide students with resources, not only to write comprehensive, complete and concise business strategies, but to also see those plans come to fruition. All of this energy will be for the benefit of our local/statewide community. They will also strongly encourage those students who participate in the TMCC, TMCC-HS and SilverSky Group Business Plan Competition to participate in the spring NCET / Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition.

TMCC, TMCC-HS and UNR are asking the community at large to engage at many different levels to participate in making this business plan competition successful and rewarding for both students and our community as a whole. They would very much appreciate your support and input. Please contact TMCC and/or SilverSky Group and say that you will join this important project!

NEEDS:

- Event Sponsors (financial support, contact Melodie Harney for details)
- Prize Sponsors (in-kind-gifts, cash donations to TMCC Foundation and/or UNR for prize scholarships and donated business services)
- Business Mentors for Student Groups
- Judges for Written Business Plan Evaluations
- Judges for Oral Presentation Evaluations

CONTACTS:

Marie E. Murgolo-Poore, Ph.D.
Director of Business, Social Sciences and Business
Truckee Meadows Community College
(775) 337-5608 • mmurgolo@tmcc.edu

Melodie Harney
Para-Professional
SilverSky Group LLC
(775) 336-6466 • mharney@silverskygroup.com

More information on the TMCC / SilverSky Business Plan Competition

Technorati tags: TMCC, Truckee Meadows Community College, TMCC-HS, Truckee Meadows Community College High School, SilverSky Group LLC, TMCC / SilverSky Business Plan Competition, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition, Nevada