Sixteen Student Teams to Compete at WSU Business Plan Competition

PULLMAN, Wash. – Sixteen teams, with a total of 50 students, will participate in the WSU Business Plan Competition on Friday, Nov. 30 in Pullman. Hosted by the WSU Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in the College of Business, the competition will consist of four leagues, each with four teams. Teams will present their plans to a panel of judges from the business community.

Each team will give a 15-minute presentation followed by an intense 20-minute question and answer session by the judges. The teams’ written and presented business plans will then be evaluated on the quality of the idea; the quality of the communication of the idea (written and oral); the likelihood of success of the plan; and demonstrated knowledge of the entrepreneurial process. The winning team from each league will be given scholarship money for their WSU accounts, as well as invaluable advice and critiques from the judges.

The fall competition is a precursor to the spring event, where many of the fall teams will return for a two-day competition after having revised and improved their business plans. The spring event also includes an open-league competition, sponsored by the Port of Whitman, for non-student entries from the around Palouse region to present their business plans with the hope of winning seed money for their proposals.

Judges for this year’s event are: Terry Chambers, business development specialist, SBDC Spokane; Doug Cox, commercial loan officer, American West Bank; Nick Gagliardi, president, Liquid Investments; Lee Gibbs, commercial loan officer, Zion’s Bank; John Glass, VP of Marketing, Anchor Bay Technologies; Jim King, CEO, Hudson Bay Insulation Co.; Pat Murphy, principal, Lawrence Associates LLC; Thomas Nihoul, senior financial advisor, Nihoul & Associates; Brett Rogers, state director, SBDC; Mike Senske, president/CEO, Pearson Packaging Systems; Bill Skavdahl, manager, American West Bank; Mike Tompkins, president, Collision on Wheels; Chip Treverton, VP, Corbis, and Jan Romerdahl, senior VP, US Bank.

The WSU College of Business is accredited at the baccalaureate, master, and doctoral levels by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The college spans the four campuses of WSU with the largest campus in Pullman and urban campuses located in Spokane, Vancouver and the Tri-Cities area. The college conducts scholarly and applied research, and offers degree programs in a variety of business disciplines, and in hospitality business management, supplementing face-to-face offerings through innovative online learning and international programs. For more information, visit the college’s Web site at www.business.wsu.edu.