College Entrepreneurs To Unveil Plans

Four student venture teams from Westmont’s entrepreneur class will present their start-up business plans to a panel of outside reviewers Thursday, Dec. 11, at 5:30 p.m. at Hieronymus Lounge in Kerrwood Hall. The 19th annual Westmont Collegiate Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition is free and open to the public. Networking and refreshments will begin at 5 p.m.

A panel of five experts will judge the competition: Jim Andelman, general partner for Rincon Venture Partners; Eli Eisenberg, founder and CEO of StraightLine Management; Susan Block, investment banker with Block-Bowman & Associates; Barry Fay, president of Aquaflo; and Jason Spievak, founder and CEO of RingRevenue.

The student venture teams endure a rigorous 15-week schedule and continuously hone their innovative ideas through tests of feasibility, viability and long-term sustainable profit potential. The result is an industry-standard business plan, a professional executive summary and a high-quality oral presentation with accompanying slides.

Students often get direct introductions to seed-capital investors and other professionals through the competition. The top two ventures are also entered into collegiate business plan events around the country. Westmont boasts 20 ventures selected since 1990, with the fall 2002 venture team Solum Monitoring Systems taking first place in the 7th Midwest Enterprise Creation Competition in Indianapolis, co-sponsored by Indiana, Syracuse and Ball State Universities.

The competition is part of the Entrepreneurship and New Venture Development course at Westmont, taught by David Newton, professor of entrepreneurial finance, who founded the college’s entrepreneurship program in 1990.

Ten of the best undergraduate and MBA-level venture teams from around the country will present their start-up business plans at the sixth annual S.E.E.D. National Collegiate Venture Forum March 13 at the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara.

For more information, please call (805) 565-6156. For directions to Westmont and a map of the campus, please visit www.westmont.edu.