College Entrepreneurs to Unveil Plans

Four student venture teams from Westmont’s entrepreneur class will present their start-up business plans to a panel of outside reviewers Thursday, Dec. 6, at 5:30 p.m. at Hieronymus Lounge in Kerrwood Hall. The 18th annual Westmont Collegiate Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition is free and open to the public. Networking and refreshments will begin at 5 p.m.

A panel of five experts will judge the competition: Eli Eisenberg, founder and CEO of StraightLine Management; Susan Block, investment banker with Block-Bowman & Associates; Barry Fay, president of Aquaflo; Brian Azouz, president of PFS Inc.; and Fritz Harnsberger, hedge fund manager of Marathon Investments.

The student venture teams endure a rigorous 16-week schedule and continuously hone their innovative ideas through tests of feasibility, viability and long-term sustainable profit potential. The result is an industry-standard business plan, a professional executive summary and a high-quality oral presentation with accompanying slides.

Students often get direct introductions to seed-capital investors and other professionals through the competition. The top two ventures are also entered into collegiate business plan events around the country. Westmont boasts 13 ventures selected since 1990, with the fall 2002 venture team Solum Monitoring Systems taking first place in the 7th Midwest Enterprise Creation Competition in Indianapolis, co-sponsored by Indiana, Syracuse and Ball State Universities.

The competition is part of the Entrepreneurship and New Venture Development course at Westmont, taught by David Newton, professor of entrepreneurial finance, who founded the college’s entrepreneurship program in 1990.

For more information, please call (805) 565-6156. For directions to Westmont and a map of the campus, please visit www.westmont.edu.