Entrepreneurism is alive and well in the state’s college community, as the West Virginia Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition received 115 entries, including 40 in its new Hospitality & Tourism category. The 115 entries are from 10 different institutions of higher education. One winning team from each category will be awarded a $10,000 prize in the spring.

“The 115 entries this year represent a 17 percent increase over the number of entries last year, which was a record at the time,” said Mindy Walls, director of the West Virginia University Entrepreneurship Center, which hosts the competition. “Also, there are 40 entries in the new Hospitality & Tourism category, which was added this year to support the second-largest industry in the state. This competition is growing in popularity and participation, and that is reflected by the 10 West Virginia colleges and universities that have entries in this year.”

The institutions that have teams competing this year include WVU, Shepherd University, Fairmont State University, Marshall University, Bluefield State College, University of Charleston, Potomac State College of West Virginia University, Alderson-Broaddus College, Glenville State College and West Liberty University.

The competition is open to full time students of any class rank or major at the undergraduate, graduate or professional level. Business ideas in this year’s competition included entries from students in engineering, computer science, political science, fashion merchandising, parks and recreation, agriculture, law, journalism, business disciplines, sport management, humanities, criminology and Spanish.

The competition will also see participation from 60 judges who will evaluate the business ideas in the first round. The judges are recognized as local, state and national business leaders and will determine which entries advance to the second round.

“This competition is an economic development engine. Of the 40 teams that made it to the final round of the competition in the past four years, 15 have gone on to open West Virginia businesses, which shows that the real prize is the experience,” Walls said.

In addition to the two $10,000 cash prizes, the winner in each category will receive a bundle of professional services that includes legal services, accounting services, and either virtual or physical office space in the WVU Business Incubator — a services package worth $6,600.

The statewide competition started four years ago and has seen participation from 419 collegiate teams from 14 different higher education institutions in West Virginia. Thus far, eight winning teams have won $80,000 in cash, 40 finalist teams have received $40,000 in cash and more than 100 volunteers from the statewide business community have assisted student teams.

Go to www.be.wvu.edu/bpc for further information on the West Virginia Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition.

WVU

pg/10/04/10
Check http://wvutoday.wvu.edu daily for the latest news from the University. Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.

CONTACT: Patrick Gregg
304.293.5131
patrick.gregg@mail.wvu.edu