Seven schools advance to final round of West Virginia High School Business Plan Competition

Teams from seven different high schools across the state have advanced to the final round of the West Virginia High School Business Plan Competition.

As they gain invaluable entrepreneurial education in the sixth annual competition, teams are also learning about startup opportunities in the state and working to make their business ideas as strong as possible. After all, a prize of $10,000 in college scholarship money is at stake for the winning team.

“The High School Business Plan Competition is an important part of West Virginia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Tara St. Clair, senior program manager at the BrickStreet Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at West Virginia University’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics, which co-hosts the statewide competition. “Whether students choose to continue their education or go into the workforce, they are equipped with the knowledge and tools to do whatever they choose in the next stage of life.”

The seven finalist schools include Buckhannon Upshur High School, Buckhannon; Doddridge County High School, West Union; Greenbrier East High School, Lewisburg; Hedgesville High School, Hedgesville; Lincoln High School, Shinnston; Morgantown High School, Morgantown; Princeton Senior High School, Princeton; and Wheeling Park High School, Wheeling.

WVU’s BrickStreet Center co-hosts the competition with the West Virginia Department of Education. The competition is open to all juniors and seniors in high schools and career and technical centers in West Virginia. Teams may consist of up to three members.

“Some of West Virginia’s greatest challenges can become its greatest opportunities. The West Virginia High School Business Plan Competition’s goal is to work collaboratively to help move the state forward by engaging young minds to solve West Virginia’s greatest issues,” said the WVDE. “The future of our state is at hand, and we are working to involve young talent from across the state to share their ideas.”

“This competition is important to the development of an entrepreneurial culture in West Virginia,” St. Clair added. “Students are being taught skills to aid them in starting businesses of their own someday, which we hope they will open in their home state.”

A workshop for the high school finalist teams will be held on Saturday, Feb. 9, at the WVU Erickson Alumni Center in Morgantown. Teams will meet and work with marketing, financial, legal and business professionals on their business ideas, while learning valuable information related to starting a business in West Virginia.

The winner of the high school competition will be determined at the finals event, which will be held April 12 at the West Virginia High Technology Consortium at the I-79 Technology Park in Fairmont. Finals events for the high school and West Virginia Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition will be held together at the Technology Park location as the events simultaneously draw to a close. 

Find about more about the high school competition on the West Virginia Department of Education website.

The, Brickstreet Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is part of the WVU Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Applied Ecosystem, a university-wide web of centers, offices and programs that fosters and supports innovation and entrepreneurship among WVU students, faculty and staff while engaging the statewide community.

Other areas include IDEA Faculty Fellows, WVU Women’s Business Center, LaunchLab Network  Davis Young Innovators program, WVU Extension Service, Patent and Trademark Resource Center, Health Sciences Innovation Center, Legal Clinics, Media Innovation Center, Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the MakerLab and Technology Transfer. 

See a map of the full ecosystem and detailed information about the resources included.

The High School Business Plan Competition is one of the ways WVU fosters homegrown entrepreneurship to fulfill the mission of WV Forward.

WV Forward is a statewide collaboration led by West Virginia University, the state Department of Commerce and Marshall University to help grow the economy by adding  jobs, investing in education and improving health and wellness to create the most prosperous West Virginia possible.

Below is the complete list of 2018-19 West Virginia Statewide High School Business Plan Competition finalists: 

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CONTACT: Patrick Gregg, WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics
patrick.gregg@mail.wvu.edu; 304.293.5131

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