Entrepreneurs Compete in National Forum

A Westmont student venture will vie against eight other student business plans in a national competition in Santa Barbara. The third annual Spirit of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (S.E.E.D) Collegiate Venture Forum will be held at the Andalucia Hotel, March 3-4.

Westmont student Scott Upton’s start-up venture, Polaris Athletic Training Systems LLC, took first place in the 16th annual Westmont Collegiate Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition last December. Upton’s proposal for a high-tech training device for runners and other athletes will now compete against other student ventures from Duke University, Washington State University, Syracuse University, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Arizona, Rice University, and University of Houston.

Upton’s project has been selected as a semifinalist for the 9th annual Enterprise Creation Competition, March 24-25, co-hosted by Indiana University-Bloomington, Syracuse University and Ball State University. Westmont has been represented at the national competition five of the past nine years. Westmont student venture Solum Monitoring Systems Inc. took first place in 2003 and won $7,500 in start-up funds.

Dave Newton, professor of entrepreneurial finance, is founder and president of TechKnowledge Point, which launched the S.E.E.D competition to put top collegiate entrepreneurship business plans in front of a world-class panel of evaluators, early stage investors and product development specialists. Newton also founded the entrepreneurship program at Westmont.

Ron Meritt, president and founder of Meritt International, Pismo Beach, will be the keynote speaker for the sold-out opening luncheon, Friday, March 3 at 11:30 a.m. Meritt is credited with introducing the portable VCR player and screen for automobiles during the mid-1990s.

Students will present their start-up business plans to a panel of nine judges in three semifinal rounds beginning Friday, March 3, at 1:30 p.m.

CNN's Ali Velshi, will be the keynote speaker at Friday evening’s sold-out Entrepreneurial Networking banquet, which begins at 6 p.m. Each of the semifinal teams will also provide the audience with a 90-second “elevator pitch” of their venture. The four finalists will be announced at the end of the banquet.

The final competition for the remaining four ventures will be judged Saturday, March 4, at 8:15 a.m. It will be followed by a sold-out awards luncheon at noon.

For more information please call (805) 965-3048.