University of Montana School of Business Administration Gears Up for Business Plan Competition May 11

The business school will host the 16th Annual John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition on Thursday, May 11, 2006. In addition to increasing the prize money from $10,000 in 2005 to over $20,000 this year, Dr. Jeff Shay and the Montana Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs (MADE) have introduced the following changes to the already successful event:

* All competitors who make it to the Semi-Final Round in Missoula will receive a cash prize

* A new and exciting Wild Card Round that will be used to select one additional team for the Final Round of the competition

* An opportunity for one team to be selected to attend Rob Ryan’s Entrepreneur America Boot Camp

According to Dr. Shay, “Montana is truly an entrepreneurial state and the competition reflects the connection between entrepreneurship initiatives at SoBA and the entrepreneurial spirit of students across the state. The MADE group continues to work hard to design a competition that will attract promising entrepreneurs from around the state and the region and will eventually offer substantial seed capital for the best business plan. We are very excited about the opportunity for students to share their entrepreneurial aspirations with community and business leaders. Join us for the event and see Montana’s entrepreneurial future unveil before your eyes.”

More than 450 students from around the state have participated in the John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition since its inception. Approximately 35 of the student business plans have been implemented and many students use the experience gleaned from the participating in the competition to launch other ventures.

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