University of Maryland Hosts First Statewide High School Business Plan Competition

COLLEGE PARK, Md., June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The University of Maryland hosts the finals for the first Maryland High School Business Plan Competition on Saturday, June 9, university officials announce today.

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The finals will be held this Saturday from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building at the University of Maryland, College Park. Five teams of finalists from four different counties throughout the state, who passed through two rounds of elimination and nearly 500 online votes, will present their business plans to a panel of expert judges and a public audience.

Finalists will compete for $10,000 in cash and prizes. Awards include scholarships to the Entrepreneurship Essentials Online Program for high school students, which enhances students' entrepreneurship skills for launching an innovative venture, starting a new career, and diversifying their education. The non-credit, Web-based summer program teaches the fundamentals of entrepreneurship.

"The University of Maryland fosters and supports entrepreneurship at all levels and has built a broad portfolio of initiatives to do so," said James V. Green, director of entrepreneurship education at the university's Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), which is managing the competition. "By hosting the first statewide high school business plan competition, we are expanding our outreach to an important age bracket and are rewarding high school innovators. By simultaneously giving these innovators scholarships to the Entrepreneurship Essentials Online Program, we are providing them with a foundation for a potential lifetime of entrepreneurship."

Listed by county and high school, finalists include:

• Prince George's County: Eleanor Roosevelt High School
• Washington County: Barbara Ingram School for the Arts
• Montgomery County: Walt Whitman High School
• Montgomery County: John F. Kennedy High School
• St. Mary's County: St. Mary's Ryken High School

The Maryland High School Business Plan Competition promotes entrepreneurship and innovation in Maryland by giving entrepreneurial high school students the chance to win up to $10,000 in cash and prizes for the best ideas for new ventures and earn credibility by winning a prestigious competition from one of the top entrepreneurship schools in the country. The University of Maryland is ranked 18th among universities for undergraduate entrepreneurship by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine.

All high school freshmen, sophomores and juniors in the State of Maryland were invited to apply. Team sizes could range from one to five students.

Mtech also hosts the University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition, now in its twelfth year, which encourages UMD students, faculty and researchers to leverage their talent and ideas to create tomorrow's leading companies. The competition process, its network of expert mentors and partners and the cash prizes awarded have helped many UMD entrepreneurs act on their dreams and build their own companies.

The competition has spurred multi-million companies and cutting-edge startups such as Squarespace, Lurn, AnthroTronix, Alertus Technologies, RioRey (then MacroPhage), Remedium Technologies, FlexEl, Resensys and Traffax.

Mtech offers programs, courses, workshops and competitions to help aspiring entrepreneurs learn how to bring their ideas and products to the world.

Mtech's entrepreneurship education programs featured 21 entrepreneurship courses with 865 enrollments in 2011, two living-learning programs, one community college transfer program, seed funding, and mentoring. Mtech's suite of programs add to these offerings with product development funding, free intellectual property services, entrepreneur office hours, a venture accelerator, incubator, and additional support for companies throughout their lifecycles.

About the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech)
The mission of Mtech is to educate the next generation of technology entrepreneurs, create successful technology ventures, and connect Maryland companies with university resources to help them succeed. Founded in 1983, Mtech has had a $27.8 billion impact on the Maryland economy and helped create or retain more than 7,000 jobs. Top-selling products such as MedImmune's Synagis®, which protects infants from a deadly respiratory disease, and Hughes Communications' HughesNet®, which brings satellite-based, high-speed Internet access to the world, were developed through or enhanced by our programs. Billion dollar companies such as Martek Biosciences and Digene Corporation graduated from our incubator. Mtech offers three experiential learning programs and 21 entrepreneurship and innovation courses, served to 865 enrollees in 2011, at the pre-college, undergraduate, graduate and executive education levels. For more information about Mtech, please visit www.mtech.umd.edu. 

SOURCE Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute