For the second year in a row, the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI) at the University of Connecticut School of Business held a business plan competition. However, this year the competition was expanded university-wide to include any unique business ideas and innovation from all academic levels and majors at UConn, attracting 76 UConn teams to submit their intent to compete. “We are thrilled with the level of interest in entrepreneurship we discovered through this competition,” states Christopher Levesque, Director of CCEI. “The finalists not only submitted strategically sound and well expressed business plans, but also greatly impressed the judges with the refined delivery of their presentations.”
There were many interdisciplinary teams, which helped bring a broader array of perspectives and ideas to any project. Part of the promise of this competition was that all submitted plans would be reviewed by experienced entrepreneurs, investors and UConn faculty. Additionally, this year, The CCEI hosted a workshop in late March dedicated to helping teams improve and polish their plans to help maximize their prospects for success. At this workshop, the competitor teams were presented a brief seminar on what makes a successful business plan and were then given one-on-one time to work with professional and student mentors.
There were 36 official competition entries and ten finalists. The finalists were offered additional mentoring meetings, and many teams took advantage of this in order to continue to improve their plan under the guidance of an experienced entrepreneurial mentor. The finalist presentations were held in late April at the School of Business. The judges for this competition were: Christopher Levesque, Director of CCEI; Kevin Bouley, President & CEO of Nerac, Inc.; Mark Van Allen, President of UConn R&D Corporation; Danny Briere, CEO of TeleChoice; Mary Anne Rooke, President of the Angel Investor Forum; Eric Knight ’82, President of Remarkable Technologies; and Amit Kumar, Senior Business Consultant at UTC Power.
Eric Knight noted, “The University has unlocked a fertile, untapped business energy that could be of tremendous benefit to the State of Connecticut. From this one competition alone, perhaps a dozen real businesses will be born. Who’s to say we don’t have the next Facebook percolating in our midst? Or the next generation of fuel-efficient transportation?”
Among the finalists, Tennis Professionals, a team comprised of two senior Resource Economics majors, Andrew Marcus ’11 and Jesse Silkoff ’11, presented the most well-developed business plan. The CCEI is pleased to award them the grand prize in our 2011 UConn Student Business Plan competition. Second prize went to Hemskies, and third to Combat to College.
“Jesse and I entered the CCEI competition with plans of expanding TennisProfessionals.com after we graduate. It was a great experience writing the business plan, making the finals, and presenting the business plan to respected business executives,” notes Andrew Marcus. “It is one thing for Jesse and I to believe in our own business idea, it is even more satisfying to win a competition and see that others believe in our business as well.”
This competition was an extremely effective and successful way to tap into the burgeoning entrepreneurial spirit here at the University and throughout the State. With the success of the 2011 CCEI Business Plan Competition and the strong student interest in entrepreneurship, the competition organizers plan to run next year’s event over a longer and more continuously mentoring and refining period. In the meantime, the CCEI is extending an invitation to all teams who submitted a letter of intent to compete in the competition to continue discussions and guide them to take advantage of resources The CCEI can bring to bear.
“Our ultimate intent at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is to identify, mentor and help develop new businesses here in Connecticut, and Tennis Professionals, along with the other finalists, represent terrific examples of such promising firms,” stated Christopher Levesque.
For more information about CCEI, please visit http://ccei.business.uconn.edu.
