Academics

How to Enter: Prior to submitting your application, please review eligibility requirements and submission guidelines. To enter, you must be an Essex County College student currently enrolled (Fall 2018). Complete the online Business Proposal Competition Application Form by clicking on: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ECC2018BusinessPlanCompetition

There are three steps to complete your application:

1. Student must fill in all required areas (Name, Address, etc.).

2. Student must submit their Business Idea or Business Plan Proposal.

3. The completed application must be submitted no later than November 19, 2018 by 11:55 pm EST.

Goal of the Business Plan:

• To encourage students to develop interest in innovation and entrepreneurship;

• To provide students with technical skills and academic support in the area of entrepreneurship; and

• To provide financial incentive to winners of the competition.

Eligibility Requirements: The competition is for Essex County College students currently enrolled in any academic program or certificate in the college.

Decisions Regarding the Competition and the Winners: All decisions regarding the competition rules, procedures, and processes are at the sole discretion of Essex County College. Changes and/or interpretations of these rules may be made by the Essex County College at any time, even though they may be (or may appear to be) in conflict with some previously published information. The selection of the individuals or teams to compete and the decision of the winners are at the sole discretion of the judges and Essex County College. Best efforts will be made to make decisions in accordance with this Official Rules document.

Changes to Competition Rules: While not anticipated, these rules and prizes are subject to change at the discretion of Essex County College at any time. Essex County College staff has the right to interpret these rules according to its own judgment.

Student Involvement: The competition is for students to create and manage ventures. Candidates can equally use their existing business as a case for this competition.

Students are expected to:

1. Be the driving force behind the new or existing venture,

2. Have played the primary role in developing the business plan, and

3. Have key management roles in the venture.

Training and Attendance: To compete, the student(s) must participate and complete the Entrepreneurship Training Sessions at set dates, times and venues.

Expectations: Candidates who compete in this competition are expected to: Produce a written Business Plan by February 17th, 2019 and be prepared to give an oral presentation to guests and audience of this competition at a scheduled date and venue. Candidates will be guided and mentored on how to meet these expectations throughout the process.

Non-confidentiality: All sessions of the competition, including but not limited to oral presentations and question/answer sessions, are open to the public at large. Any and all sessions may be broadcast to interested persons through media which may include radio, television and the Internet. Any data or information discussed or divulged in public sessions by entrants should be considered information that could possibly enter the public realm, and entrants should not assume any right of confidentiality in any data or information discussed, divulged, or presented in these sessions.

Due to the nature of the competition, we are not able to ask judges, reviewers, staff, or the audience to agree to or sign non-disclosure statements. Essex County College cannot guarantee that other individuals will not obtain access to electronic or hard copies of the business plan. All presentations are open to the general public, and some presentations may be videotaped. Attendance by media personnel is expected.

Judges: The competition will be monitored and judged by a team of 5 to 7 independent judges. The judges will provide a common rubric which will be discussed with contestants at the initial workshops. All contestants will be judged based on the quality and innovativeness of their business plan using the rules set for the competition.

Copyrights & Permissions: If a team uses copyrighted materials and/or images from a third-party in their submissions or presentations, they must obtain permission and authorization in advance from the owners to use this material and provide proof of authorization from the copyright holder.

Marketing: Essex County College reserves the right to use any and all material (printed or otherwise) prepared for the 2019 Essex County College Business Plan Competition in publicizing and promoting the event and to publicize and promote the college in other ways.

Entry Fees: The Business Plan Competition does not require an entry fee.

Prizes: The top three winners will be provided with a cash awards as follows:

1st Prize: $1,000.00

2nd Prize: $750.00

3rd Prize: $500.00