February 27. 2003

BOISE STATE TO AGAIN HOST REGIONAL VENTURE COMPETITION MARCH 20-22

The second annual Northwest Venture Championship‘ welcomes twelve graduate and undergraduate teams to Boise State University to compete for over $20,000 in prizes for the best business plans in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The competition brings together the best student teams from nine universities to present their ideas for new business start-ups to panels of judges made up of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and businesspeople.
The competition unfolds over three days, beginning Thursday, March 20 with the opening reception, where the teams display and discuss their ideas with the business community. On Friday, March 21, all teams participate in the opening round and receive feedback from the judges. The winners of each division go on to the finals round on Saturday, March 22. The other teams go on to the “elevator pitch” round for fast paced competitive business idea presentations.

The winning graduate track team receives $10,000, while the top undergraduate team wins $5,000 to be used to further develop their business ideas.  

“The competition provides an extremely beneficial source of professional development, feedback and seed funding for these young start-up companies,” said organizer and Boise State business professor Kent Neupert. “In these challenging economic times, these students are trying to create their own futures by turning their business ideas into reality.”

The schedule for the competition is as follows:

 Thursday, March 20
Boise Depot
Opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Teams display their business ideas.

 Friday, March 21, 2003
Student Union Building, Boise State University
First round of competition, 9 a.m.-noon
Feedback to teams 1-4 p.m.

 Saturday, March 22, 2003
Student Union Building, Boise State University
Finals round 9 a.m.-noon
Awards reception, 2-4 p.m.
    
Northwest Venture Championship‘ 2003 participating teams are:

 Graduate Track Teams
Boise State University
ITESM Guadalajara
Northern Arizona University
University of Houston
University of Manitoba
Washington State University

 Undergraduate Track
Boise State University
University of Alberta
University of Arizona
University of Idaho
University of Manitoba
Washington State University

Visit www.northwestventurechampionship.org for more information.
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Contact 
Kent Neupert                                
International business                          
208 426-2397                            

Media Contacts
Sherry Squires
communications and marketing
208 426-1563

Kathleen Craven
communications and marketing
208 426-3275

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