| With a vision for promoting entrepreneurship, business
school deans from several universities and business leaders conceived
the Governor's Award for Entrepreneurial Development. These leaders had
a vision for a first-class competition; one that would send a message
to students that the resources to succeed in business can be found right
here in Arkansas. Students involved in the competition gain
access to networks of successful entrepreneurs, lenders and investors,
teambuilding opportunities, business planning skills, and media exposure.
With one of the largest cash awards pool in America, the Graduate &
Undergraduate Business Plan Competition is designed to encourage students
of Arkansas' universities and colleges to act upon their ideas and talents
in order to produce tomorrow's businesses.
One of the goals of the competition is to encourage the development
and commercialization of ideas and technologies being discovered in
our universities. Multi-disciplinary teams that combine members from
technical disciplines with members from the Colleges of Business are
encouraged.
Capital Resource Corporation, an affiliate company of the Arkansas
Capital Corporation Group, manages the competition in association with
the Arkansas Small Business Development Center, the Arkansas Department
of Economic Development, the Arkansas Development Finance Authority
and the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority.
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