The University of New Mexico |
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PRESS RELEASE
Contacts: Sophie Martin, (505) 277-7117
Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
September 30, 2005
UNM LAUNCHES UNIVERSITY-WIDE
TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION
(Top prize of $25,000 will be awarded to winning team)
UNM President Louis Caldera and Anderson Schools of Management Dean Chuck Crespy announced a University-wide technology business plan competition, with a top prize of $25,000 recently. Student teams from across the campus will compete in a business plan contest that will end with high-stakes presentations in front of real venture capital pros.
According to Caldera, the business plan competition fits in with the University’s larger goal to foster economic development in the state.
“With this competition, we have embarked on an effort to make our campus and our student body more entrepreneurial — more willing to take risks; more willing to see opportunity where others might only see peril,” says Caldera.
The competition is sponsored by the Anderson Schools of Management, and professors from the schools will work with business leaders to provide an every-other-week schedule of seminars to help students prepare their entries.
According to Sul Kassicieh, Anderson’s associate dean for Economic Development and Research, the sessions will include, “Company structure, tax issues, market research, financial planning, venture capital, and more. We plan on providing a high level of support for the teams in the competition, and expect great things from UNM students.”
Full-time UNM students from any discipline are invited to enter the competition, and while the focus is on technology, the judges will take a broad view of the term.
"A team comprised of music majors and computer science majors and business majors might come up with something unexpected that doesn’t necessarily fit the standard definition of ‘technology,’ said Crespy. “We hope to see plans that surprise us, and that could potentially lead to the next business phenomenon.”
Complete rules for the competition are available online at the Anderson Schools’ Web site at: http://www.mgt.unm.edu/students/techbizplan.asp. The deadline to submit a binding intention to present is Nov. 30. Business plan entries are due April 4.
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