Contact: Tamyra Gibson
Phone: (765) 494-4392
Contact: Mehta
Phone: (765) 494-5703
Email: [email protected]
Purdue and other schools encourage entrepreneurship WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Business owners of tomorrow are getting their first crack at entrepreneurship through college competitions.
Purdue University's annual Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition is one of several contests around the country that allow students to test the validity of original business plans and earn cash awards for their efforts. First prize for the winning team at Purdue is $4,000.
"The interest in entrepreneurship and this competition in particular is really growing," says Shailendra Mehta, director of the Krannert Entrepreneurship Initiative at the Krannert Graduate School of Management. "We have 50 percent more contest entries this year over last year and they are from all over campus, not just the business school."
For now, the Burton Morgan competition is open only to Purdue students, but Mehta says interuniversity competitions are growing in popularit! y. In recent years, Purdue students have entered entrepreneurial contests at Indiana University, the University of Nebraska and the University of Texas.
The preliminary round for Purdue's 1998 Burton D. Morgan competition was held in early November. Of the 25 teams entered, 20 qualified for the semifinal round at the end of November, and the field will be narrowed to 10 for the final competition on Feb. 28. But first, all 10 teams had a chance to test their ideas at the Midwestern Business Plan Contest at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis on Jan. 30.
Students must develop plans that include everything necessary to start and maintain a small business. Marketing plans and strategies, manufacturing designs and processes, industry analysis, and financial considerations are just a few of the areas judges focus on.
"We have worked extensively with the 20 semifinalist teams to develop their business plans," Mehta says. "The plans start out very rough and about f! ive pages long. By the time the contest finals roll around, the business plans are at least 20 pages long and are polished enough be used to seek funding for the projects."
The yearly competition is sponsored by Purdue alumnus Burton D. Morgan, founder of six corporations and president of Basic Service Co., an idea-development company. The competition is designed to develop student appreciation of the free market system and the role of the entrepreneur in a market economy.
The Burton Morgan Web site is at >http://www3.mgmt.purdue.edu/entrepreneurship/
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