Judging for the Fox School of Business’s Idea Competition took place Wednesday afternoon in Speakman Hall. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on October 13th.
150 students, both graduates and undergraduates, from seven different Temple colleges entered the competition. These submissions were narrowed down to 26 ideas that were presented to the judges. The panel then ranked them to determine the winner, who will receive a 500 dollar cash prize.
Although the top three entries will not be announced until next week, we already know that they had some tough competition.
“We were very happy with the submissions,” says Chris Pavlides, executive director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute. “We had a high number of applicants with creative ideas that showed real potential. Our returning judges thought the submissions were better than last year.”
The competition required students to write a two page essay that outlined a new business. They needed to include a realistic business proposal, a product or service offered by that business, a market for their product, and a plan to produce sales. Each of these areas was examined by judges to determine if concept met with reality. Each student who entered will receive feedback on their proposal from the Innovation and Enterprise Institute.
As a new faculty member, this was director Chris Pavlides first project with Temple. The purpose of this competition, he says, “is to instill an entrepreneurial spirit throughout campus.” He wants students to realize that, regardless of their major, they can still apply entrepreneurial thinking to their tasks and use those skills to their benefit.
The next stage of the Business Innovation Competition is the Feasibility Plan Competition. The deadline is December 16, 2004. Anyone interested can find more information at www.fox.temple.edu/iei.
Megan Davies can be reached at mjdavies@temple.edu.
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