2015 R.I. Business Plan Competition launches Oct. 14

ERIK WERNEVI, co-founder and CEO of Nordic Technology Group, was one of the winners of last year's Rhode Island Business Plan Competition. / COURTESY ERIK WERNEVI
ERIK WERNEVI, co-founder and CEO of Nordic Technology Group, was one of the winners of last year's Rhode Island Business Plan Competition. / COURTESY ERIK WERNEVI

PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Business Plan Competition will launch its 2015 competition, which is expected to award prizes in excess of $200,000, on Oct. 14 at a kick-off event.
The winners of last year’s competition, CompNet Insurance Solutions, Nordic Technology Group and Dual Server Cooling, will attend and share the evolution of their business idea, explain critical steps they took in applying, including what worked and what didn’t and how winning has affected them.
The kick-off, at Betaspring, 95 Chestnut St., Providence, is free and open to the public. Preregistration is required.
The 2015 competition will be organized along two tracks: a student track for those enrolled in college or graduate school, and an entrepreneur track for anyone. Participation in the competition is free and open to adults, age 18 or older, whether or not they already have started a business.
Applications can be made online starting Dec. 1 and will be accepted through March 30. Learn more at http://www.ri-bizplan.com.
Events will be held throughout the competition, including the annual Rhode Island Elevator Pitch contest on Dec. 4, where entrepreneurs can pitch a business idea in 60 seconds to a panel of business experts (and a live audience) and receive immediate feedback, plus the chance to win cash prizes.
Also, in January, February and March, seminars that aim to help attendees learn how to develop a robust business plan to attract investors will be held.
Events are free and open to the public.
The Rhode Island Business Plan Competition is the leading community-supported business plan competition in the Northeast, supported by private businesses, colleges and universities, public entities and nonprofit organizations.
Founded in 2000 by Garrett Hunter, then president of the Business Development Company of Rhode Island, the competition aims to further develop the entrepreneurial spirit in Rhode Island and help create growth companies that will increase local employment.
The competition encourages plans for new businesses, as well as from early stage companies. An early stage, or seed stage, company typically is at the inventor stage where there is an idea, a concept or even a product, but little or no income has been generated yet.

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