| May
9, 2008--Judges Selected, Sponsors Secured for Oswego County's
"Next Great Idea" Business Plan Competition
OSWEGO,
NY-- The panel of judges and major sponsors have been secured
for The Next Great Idea (NGI) 2008 Oswego County Business Plan Competition,
said Austin Wheelock, economic development specialist for Operation
Oswego County (OOC).
“NGI
is the result of business and community leaders joining together
to launch this competition that encourages entrepreneurs to commit
to new business development in Oswego County and offers a $25,000
prize to help make a dream come true,” Wheelock said.
Judges
for the event are Bill Lovell of Cayuga Community College, Heidi
Hazen-Forte of Hazens Athletic, L’Quentus Thomas of Stonehedge
Capital, Steve Thomas, local entrepreneur; Tom Delduchetto of the
SUNY Oswego School of Business, David E. Mckeon of Cobblestone Financial
Group, and Shawn E. Seale of Key Bank, Oswego.
Platinum
Level sponsors, who have donated from $3,000 to $5,000 in money
or services for the event, are Operation Oswego County, the New
York Small Business Development Center, Key Bank, and PathFinder
Bank. Gold Level sponsors, who have donated from $1,000 to $2,999
in money or services for the event, are Alliance Bank, Entergy,
National Grid, C&S Companies, News 10 Now, SUNY Oswego and Chirello
Advertising. Silver Level sponsors, who have donated from $5,000
to $999 in money or services for the event, are Mitchell Printing
& Mailing, Broadwell Development, Fulton Tool Co., Inc., and
the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board.
The
event announcing the winner will be held at Noon, Nov. 10 at the
American Foundry, Oswego.
The event web site, www.oswegocounty.org/bizcomp.htm, includes an
overview of the event, a competition timeline, guidelines, details
on the $25,000 prize, sponsors, partners and contact information.
In addition, the $25,000 can potentially be leveraged to borrow
up to $250,000 in partnership with local banks, the Oswego County
Industrial Development Agency, the cities of Oswego and Fulton community
development offices, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and
other economic development agencies.
The
top two finalists will each receive a free submission to New York’s’
Creative Core $100,000, 2009 Emerging Business Competition.
May
1, 2008 was the deadline for eligible teams to submit an executive
summary of their idea. On June 1, a team of judges will evaluate
the executive summaries and up to 10-15 semi-finalists will be selected
for round two. On June 16, semi-finalists will be notified that
they have qualified for the next round. These semi-finalists are
required to submit a business plan that follows competition requirements
by Sept. 1, 2008.
To
assist the semi-finalists, SUNY Oswego’s Office for Business
and Community Relations will offer a free optional workshop June
30 to provide additional support for the business plan submission.
On November 10, the finalists must give a 20-minute presentation
on their business plan in-person to the panel of judges. Following
the presentation, a luncheon and awards ceremony announcing the
winner will be held.
The
$25,000 prize must be used to start or expand a business in Oswego
County.
“Our
organizing team believes that Oswego County offers a wealth of resources
and opportunities for businesses to start and flourish here. We
are all extremely excited to see what great ideas competition participants
generate,” Wheelock said.
For
more information, visit the web site at www.oswegocounty.org/bizcomp.htm,
or Wheelock can be contacted at 315-343-1545 or at awheelock@oswegocounty.org.
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