From BizLaunch: Business Trends

Startup Quest Program:   Business Plan and Investor Pitch Competition

According to the National Federation of Independent Business, June 2013 report shows that for the second consecutive month, small business owner confidence has edged up and is the second highest since the recession started in December 2007.  Surveys show that 8% state that now is a good time to expand and 23% of businesses plan to make capital outlays.

To assist startup businesses, Brevard Workforce offers several entrepreneurial programs to assist those who aspire to become entrepreneurs.  One of those programs is Startup Quest. Since May 9, 2013 eighty-two people, along with 11 business mentors have been participating in this intensive training program.

On July 11, 2013, Brevard Workforce’s Startup Quest Program will culminate in a Business Plan and Investor Pitch Competition, taking place at the Space Coast Convention Center, Holiday Inn in Cocoa, Florida.

Startup Quest is a program made possible by a grant from the US Department of Labor’s Workforce Innovation Fund.  The grant’s purpose is to provide innovative entrepreneurial training to unemployed and underemployed, degreed individuals in 8 workforce regions around the state.  The program provides 8 weeks of curriculum in addition to participation in a simulated technology startup exercise.  Participants are teamed together with an experienced entrepreneur mentor to form simulated startup companies and create commercialization plans for existing technology-Intellectual Property (IP) from universities and NASA labs.  In Brevard, 82 participants making up 11 teams have worked for 9 weeks to create business plans and investor pitches around their technology.

On July 11, these teams will have the opportunity to showcase what they’ve created at a competition event.  Ten judges, all successful entrepreneurs, business people, and investors, will evaluate the plans and pitches based on criteria such as market research and value proposition.

Winning team members will be awarded cash prizes, furnished by the Florida High Tech Corridor council, and NASA.

The public is invited to attend this exciting event.  Public tickets are $18 which includes the cost of heavy hors’ d’oeuvres.  The event is expected to fill up quickly, individuals can register at http://startupquestpitch.eventbrite.com