LaunchTown Announces Second Annual $20,000 Northeast Ohio Student Entrepreneurship Competition
March 3, 2008
I have been participating in the Second Annual Northeast Ohio Student Entrepreneurship Competition. It is a great forum for College students in NEO to pitch their business ideas to a panel of experts. I have not been as active in this organization as I would have preferred, but I still encourage you all to come to the competition at John Carrol on April 7.
Here is the press release:
LaunchTown is pleased to announce the Second Annual Northeast Ohio Student Entrepreneurship Competition to be held April 7, 2008 at John Carroll University. The winners for the best idea for new business, product, or service will receive more than $10,000 in cash prizes and $10,000 in business services.
LaunchTown has been made possible by generous grants from the John P. Murphy and Burton D. Morgan Foundations. Nancy W. McCann, President and Treasurer of the John P. Murphy Foundation said, “We are delighted to be sponsoring the LaunchTown Competition. This region originally blossomed because of the creative entrepreneurship in the early 20th century. Encouraging future entrepreneurship is vital to the economic health of our region in this the 21st Century”.
There are additional LaunchTown sponsorship opportunities available. Interested organizations should contact Ali Manav at Ali.Manav@launchtown.org.
The competition is open to students of any Northeast Ohio four-year college. Students, individually, or in 2-4 person teams, submit a 5-10 page essay describing their new business, product, or service. The best ideas will receive $10,000 in cash prizes, including a $5,000 grand prize, and over $10,000 in business services to help them bring their idea to reality.
Complete competition rules are available at www.launchtown.org.
Colleges participating in this competition include; Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Baldwin Wallace College, Ashland University, Kent State University, The University of Akron and John Carroll University. In addition there is an Open Category for any student of a four-year college in Northeast Ohio. Contacts and detailed submission information for each college and the Open Category are available at the www.launchtown.org site.
Dr. John C. Soper, Professor of Economics and Chair in Entrepreneurship at John Carroll University said, “Silicon Valley, Boston, Austin, Triangle Park, and other booming regions all owe their success directly to seeds planted and nurtured in local universities. Most of our graduating college seniors will find jobs in relatively small, fast-growing enterprises that were created by entrepreneurial business owners who plan on staying in Northeast Ohio. We need to reach these students before they graduate with the idea that entrepreneurship is vitally important to our region, that it is rewarding to active participants, and that they can be a part of the growth process through entrepreneurship.”
For additional information on LaunchTown, contact Charles Stack at cms@flashlinepartners.com or visit www.launchtown.org. LaunchTown is presented by the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium of Northeast Ohio www.eecneohio.com . LaunchTown is sponsored by Akron ARCHAngels, NorthCoast Angel Fund, The Tom Barratt Companies, Thundertech, Flashline Partners, Meyers Roman, Squire Sanders, Ohio Venture Association, Omniasoft WebDev, Carney, Gluntz & Associates, PCT Law Group, Entrepreneurs Association, Concierges Connection, Marsh USA, Palitto Consulting Group, MedXSales, InSpire One Consulting, Smart Solutions, Campus EAI Consortium, and NorTech.
LaunchTown is a business idea competition and an example of what happens when a select group of successful Northeast Ohio business leaders and area colleges and universities put their minds together to encourage brain gain.CONTACT:
Charles Stack
LaunchTown Committee
Phone: 216 220-4580
cms@flashlinepartners.com
Website www.launchtown.org