More than $45,000 in prize money will be awarded Thursday and Friday (April 22 and 23) in four business plan competitions organized by the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Notre Dame.p. Finalists in the Social Venture Plan Competition and the Invention Convention will present their plans Thursday afternoon and evening in the auditorium of the Hesburgh Center for International Studies.p. The third annual Social Venture event, from 1 to 4 p.m., will feature entrants with socially oriented business plans competing for prize money totaling $10,000. The competition is co-sponsored by the Master of Science in Administration program in the Mendoza College of Business.p. The Invention Convention is a joint project of the Gigot Center and the Robinson Community Learning Center, and it includes both youth and adult events offering $5,500 each in prize money. Five teams of young people ages 13-18 will present start-up business plans from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The competition has included instruction in a business skills program called BizTech as part of the after-school curriculum offered at the Robinson Center. The adult competition, also featuring five teams of residents from the Northeast Neighborhood serviced by the Robinson Center, will take place from 6 to 7 p.m.p. Winners in the Dorothy Dolphin Family Business Plan Competition and the McCloskey Business Plan Competition will be announced at the McCloskey competition final event, from 1 to 5 p.m. Friday in Mendozas Jordan Auditorium.p. The Dolphin event is designed to promote and strengthen the development of strategic business plans in family businesses, which, for the purposes of the competition, are defined as existing businesses with family ownership and operational control. A $7,000 prize will be awarded to the winning entrants.p. The fourth annual McCloskey event will feature six finalists vying for a first-place prize of $15,000. In addition, the McCloskey finalists and the winners of the Social Venture and Dolphin competitions will make presentations to the audience, which will vote to determine the winner of the $3,000 Pace Global People Choice Award.p. The four Gigot business plan competitions drew 125 entries. The McCloskey, Social Venture and Dolphin events required participation by at least one Notre Dame student or graduate. Notre Dame students mentored participants in the Invention Convention.p. Summaries of finalist descriptions for all events can be found on the Gigot Web site at www.nd.edu/~entrep or by contacting the center at entrep@nd.edu .
Contact: Theresa Sedlack, Gigot Center program manager, 574-631-3809, tsedlack@nd.edu
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