R3bi business contest garners 16 entries

Posted on Sep 10, 2012 in Business by

Submissions for the Red River Region Business Incubator’s $10,000 business plan competition are now in the hands of the judges.

“We have 14 entries and two student entries that were accepted,” R3bi Director Fred Green said. “We had some from outside our area. I got one from New York. I got one from Florida.”

Of the 16 submitted plans submitted by the Sept. 5 midnight deadline, 12 were from Lamar County, with the rest from Hopkins County, Hunt County, Red River County and Franklin County.

“I’m a little disappointed. We had seven other people who registered buy missed the deadline,” Green said. “I feel when you’re going to hand somebody a $10,000 prize, there should be a little more response from the entrepreneurs and business community. The quality of the submissions is extremely good, and the judges have a tough decision.”

Those judges include:

  • David Terry, executive director of the West Texas A&M University Enterprise Network.
  • Deanna Adams, director of the Business Incubator at Casper Area Business Innovation Center.
  • Jim Bowie, site manager of the University of Central Florida Business Incubator
  • Karl LaPan, director of the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center.
  • Mark Long, professor at the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University-Bloomington.
  • Rick Roeser, business development specialist at the Wisconsin Business Innovation Corp.

The top three semifinalists will be invited to submit a YouTube video making an elevator pitch based on their business plans. Those videos will be used to help select the winner. The winners are expected to be announced by the end of the month.

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