Friday, February 8, 2008
Ten students will compete today in the Mark L. Morris, Jr. New Venture Development Competition, where a panel of judges will award $5,000 to the student with the best entrepreneurial idea. The top four finalists will also receive $2,000 and all 10 finalists will receive $200.
Wally Meyer, director of entrepreneurship programs in the School of Business, which sponsored the competition, said the purpose of the competition was to allow undergraduate students at the University of Kansas to realize their dream of starting and running their own business.
The 10 finalists were chosen from 80 different submissions, which Meyer said was an extraordinary response.
Each submission was a five-page business plan, which presented the product or service, the marketing plan and the final aspects for starting the new venture.
“It really takes a lot of work to not only think up the idea, but to also do the research about the industry and put it together into a very cohesive, five-page plan,” Meyer said.
Each team has 20 minutes to present a presentation of its plan to a panel of judges at the competition, which will be held in Alcove J. on the third floor of the Union at 12:30 p.m. this afternoon.
Bob Taylor, a judge in the competition, said the number one thing judges would be looking for was how well an idea could sell.
“We’ll be making kind of an overall assessment of whether the business idea could be successful in today’s market,” Taylor said.
Judges will announce the winner of the Morris Award at the awards banquet in Parlor ABC immediately following the competition.
Josh Schoenfelder, one of the ten finalists, said he would use the prize money to fund his outside mobile advertising idea, which involves the coordination between advertising agencies and independent trucking companies.
“I’m definitely using this contest as an opportunity to explore the industry and if I win, I’ll use the funds to research the opportunity of possibly launching the business,” Schoenfelder said.
Both the competition and the banquet are closed to the public.
—Edited by Samuel Lamb
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