The San Angelo Business Plan Competition 2023 is a two-phase business plan competition with a cash grant prizes as well as in-kind prizes donated by local businesses. Entry is now open and requires business owners to submit a Business Overview & application. The deadline to enter is August 21, at 5 p.m. Application available online at www.angelo.edu/bpc.
By competing for cash and in-kind prizes, participants not only have a chance to walk away with grant funds, but the selected finalists will receive valuable knowledge through working with ASU Small Business Development Center Certified Business Advisors that results in a full business plan.
“The Business Plan Competition has impacted many local businesses- even ones that didn’t win. We are so excited to help the 2023 contestants develop their business plans and have an opportunity to receive grant funds as well,” said Dezaray Johnson, Director of the ASU Small Business Development Center.
Assistance for Contestants
A common misconception about the business plan competition is that contestants must create their business plan alone. However, the SBDC offers one-on-one, no-cost, and confidential assistance in preparing a Business Overview (Phase I) and Business Plan
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Presentation (Phase II) for all business owners. SBDC certified business advisors will work with contestants on developing their initial business overview, their business plan and assumptions, and their business presentation if they are selected as a finalist. A graduate accounting student team class from the Norris-Vincent College of Business (NVCOB) will work under the SBDC advisors assisting contestants during Phase II.
“Our team is ready, willing, and able to help every business who is eligible to enter. Aside from one-on-one assistance, the SBDC will also provide a free workshop on how to develop a business plan and the business elements that need to be addressed in the plan presentations,” said Dezaray Johnson, Director of the ASU SBDC. The workshop will be held in the Business Resource Center (BRC) Training Room located at 69 N. Chadbourne St. in San Angelo, day and time to be determined.
Eligibility Requirements
Any individual or a multi-person team (up to four contestants per team) is welcome to enter in the competition if they meet the following eligibility requirements. Contestants must be in the startup phase (two years or less) or be an established existing business. Business ideas or concepts are not eligible. They must be legally formed at the county level or at the state level. Contestants must be incurring business revenue and business costs at the time of entry in the competition. Businesses must be in San Angelo or its ETJ1 to be eligible for an award.
In Phase I, contestants must submit the Business Overview application online. If selected as a finalists, contestants are responsible for a $50 entry fee and will create a business plan including financial projections with assumptions, and a business plan presentation to be presented in-person to the judging panel.
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Prizes Available
The Competition Officials may award up to $40,000 in a cash grant for first place, $20,000 in a cash grant for second place, and $10,000 in a cash grant for third place, as well as in-kind services donated by local businesses worth thousands of dollars in total.
For more information, press only:
Media Advantage, Andi Markee 325-653-4488 andi@mediaadvantage.net
For interviews:
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San Angelo Development Corporation
Nora Nevarez, Economic Development Assistant 325-653-7197
For more on contest rules, eligibility, and how to enter:
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