Twenty-eight semifinalists representing a record 18 West Virginia colleges and universities will compete in the 2019-2020 West Virginia Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition Friday (Jan. 31) in Fairmont.
WHAT: The 2019-2020 West Virginia Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition
WHEN: Friday (Jan. 31), 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: Falcon Center, Fairmont State University, 1201 Locust Avenue, Fairmont
NOTES: Twenty-eight semifinalists representing a record 18 West Virginia colleges and universities will compete. Five finalists from each category will be selected to compete in the final competition April 2 in Charleston.
A $10,000 grand prize awaits each winner in the Lifestyle & Tourism and STEM & Innovation categories. In all, 201 entries from 15 schools from across the state were judged in the first round.
The West Virginia Collegiate Business Plan Competition is part of a national network that includes Brigham Young University, San Jose State University, Utah Valley University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Ray Zinn, the longest-serving CEO in Silicon Valley and founder of Micrel Semiconductors, provided $20,000 to the Encova Center for the 2019-2020 competition. The program is designed to allow students to create go-to-market plans, finish prototypes and ultimately be evaluated on the performance of their use of funding.
The Encova Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is part of the WVU Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Applied (IDEA) Ecosystem, a university-wide network of centers, offices and programs that fosters and supports innovation and entrepreneurship among WVU students, faculty and staff while engaging the statewide community.
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CONTACT: Brittany Murray
Senior Writer, Office of Strategic Communications
John Chambers College of Business and Economics
304.293.5927; brittany.murray@mail.wvu.edu
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