WSU Entrepreneur Students Compete for Startup Cash During Opportunity Quest

OGDEN, Utah — Weber State University entrepreneurial students have the chance to receive cash awards to jump-start their businesses during the Hall Global Entrepreneurship Center’s 2014-15 Opportunity Quest competition. The final presentations of student-produced business plans will begin Jan. 23 at 1 p.m. in the Wattis Business Building Room 206.
 
Ten finalist teams have been selected to present to a panel of professional judges. A cash prize of $5,000 will be awarded to the team with the most plausible and promising executive summary business plan. The first-place team also will be automatically entered as a finalist in the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge.
 
“The Opportunity Quest competition provides students the opportunity to learn why an executive summary is essential in a business and get constructive feedback from prominent                                                                      members of our community,” said Dave Noack, entrepreneurship center director.
 
Cash prizes of $3,000 and $2,000 also will be awarded for the second and third place teams, respectively.

“The prize money can help students in several ways,” said Amy Hirschi, entrepreneurship center assistant. “Whether it’s for production cost, material costs, hiring employees, marketing — the opportunities are endless.”
 
Presentations will conclude at 4:30 p.m. An award ceremony will begin at 4:45 p.m., followed by a banquet from 5-7:30 p.m. for invited guests in the Shepherd Union Building.
 
Each team is led by a WSU student enrolled in at least nine credit hours. Other team members can include students, faculty, family or professionals.
 
On Jan. 15, student teams received mentoring and feedback from a panel of successful entrepreneurs and executives about how to improve their business plans.
 
The Hall Global Entrepreneurship Center is housed in the John B. Goddard School of Business & Economics. It offers a minor that is available to students from any major who want to pursue their professional passion and supplement that education with entrepreneurship courses.
 
For more information on Opportunity Quest, visit weber.edu/opportunityquest.
 
Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
 
Author:
Marcus Jensen, Office of Marketing & Communications
801-626-7295 • marcusjensen@weber.edu
Contact:
Dave Noack, entrepreneurship center director
801-626-6079 • davidnoack@weber.edu