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Entrepreneurs looking for a jump-start for their businesses in the capital region now have their chance. LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business, the Louisiana Business and Technology Center and the Baton Rouge Business Report have partnered again for the third annual New Venture Business Plan Competition to encourage entrepreneurial ventures and development of high-growth business in Louisiana.
The contest is open to anyone over 18 who would like to start a business in the 10-parish Capital region but is not currently operating. Entrants can include students, retirees, employees or entrepreneurs, but the business plan must be one that can be launched within six months after receiving the award. Residents of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Point Coupee, Iberville, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, St. John, St. James, and Livingston Parishes are eligible to enter.
“Louisiana needs its entrepreneurs more than ever,” said Robert Sumichrast, dean of the E. J. Ourso College. “We choose to host an innovative type of business plan competition, one that is not solely an academic exercise, because we understand how important new ventures are to the economy. This is an opportunity for LSU to assist in meaningful business growth, and for entrepreneurs to earn essential resources.”
To enter the competition, a team representative must complete one copy of the registration form found online at http://www.bus.lsu.edu/businessplan/ and submit it by 3 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14.
In the first phase of the competition, judges assess the submitted business summaries and the top 20 percent of the pool of business summaries will be invited to participate in phase two of the competition by submitting a complete business plan. The finalists move on to phase three, where they present their business plans to an evaluation panel and answer direct questions regarding their planned ventures. The phase three presentations will be held Oct. 4. The winner of the competition will be announced at the Louisiana Business and Technology Expo’s Top 100 Luncheon.
The winner of the competition will receive prizes that will include office space, furniture and equipment, legal services, accounting services, marketing assistance, advertising, business cards and letterhead, a company logo and a small amount of cash. Total value of the benefits is estimated at $20,000.
“We’ve had two outstanding business plans win this contest so far,” said Charles D’Agostino, executive director of LBTC. “We’re looking forward to supporting the next innovative entrepreneur.”
Hurricane Chemical, owned by husband-and-wife Jim and Nan Huff, won the 2005 competition. Hurricane Chemical has created a patented process of applying a preservative agent to sugarcane immediately after it is cut rather than at the sugar mill, decreasing the rate of spoilage by more than 50 percent and increasing sugar yield for farmers. LA & Company, a Baton Rouge-based biotechnology firm, won the first competition in 2004. LA & Company developed an in-vitro diagnostic technology to help medical professionals better assess the risk of inflammation-related illnesses, including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes, in individual patients.