NCET Governor’s Cup Participants’ Intent To Compete Deadline Nears
Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NCET) has announced that the Intent to Compete deadline for the 2009 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup is February 16, 2009. The Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup is the only state-wide collegiate business plan competition which encourages students from Nevada’s universities and colleges to consider entrepreneurship as a career option, and gives students real-world experience in developing business plans. During the competition, students receive feedback and guidance from Nevada’s business community as they compete for cash prizes totaling nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
Students that are interested in entering a business plan must first submit an Intent to Compete form at http://govcupnevada.com/intent_to_compete_form.php.
This year’s awards ceremony will take place at the Peppermill Reno on April 23 where three winning graduate teams and three winning undergraduate teams will be awarded the $20,000 first prizes, $10,000 second prizes and $5,000 third prizes.
Finalists from Nevada will then go on to compete nationally in the Reynolds Cup Tri-State tournament. Nevada’s first and second place Governor’s Cup prize winners will compete against the first and second place winners from Arkansas and Oklahoma for an additional cash prize pool of $90,000. The Reynolds Cup oral presentations and awards ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 27 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.
Ty Jones, finalist of 2006 and UNR graduate said that “The (Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup) competition laid the groundwork for understanding how a business should be built from the ground up. A lot of entrepreneurs don’t lay out their plans and don’t do adequate market research which accounts for a lot of failed businesses (even if they have great ideas). But doing your research and laying out an explicit plan can help you refine your plan into something that can certainly be successful. After this competition, I feel confident that I could start a successful business.”
According to Michael Chestone, winner of the 2006 undergraduate competition and Sierra Nevada College graduate, “Since the winning day, I have been amazed at how much easier introductions to high level people have been. More doors than I can count have been opened for our project and me personally. We have since utilized the funds and the people that we met to grow our business to a place it never would be without this experience)”.
In addition to the top three cash prize winners, the Governor’s Cup has grown to incorporate several additional awards. The Lt. Governor’s Award will be awarded again this year to the business plan that best employs clean, renewable or efficient energy technologies and services. The NCED Commissioners’ Award, created by the Nevada Commission on Economic Development (NCED), recognizes the business plan that best addresses the needs of rural Nevada.
“We have been so encouraged with the growth of the competition and the competitive entrepreneurial spirit that it has been able to foster since its inception,” said Emily Somerville of NCET. “It has been an exciting experience to watch these future entrepreneurs and business leaders become so involved and dedicated in the competition.”
