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The competition will be held in Schneider Hall at the Haworth College of Business. The address for the building is 2300 Business Court, Kalamazoo MI 49006 and parking will be available in lot 72R.

Any current undergraduate or graduate É«É«À² Michigan University student with an original business idea in the early startup stage can participate. There is also a high school pitch competition segment, where local high school student entrepreneurs with original business ideas will compete against other high school student entrepreneurs.

No, this free event is sponsored by the Haworth College of Business. All participants will receive lunch and a gift for attending the competition.

Yes, teams can be comprised of up to three participants. All college team participants must be É«É«À² Michigan University students. All high school team participants must be high school students. We recommend that one student pitch the business idea and the other team members be ready to help answer questions from the judges.

A short, simple description of your business idea that demonstrates how you can solve a problem and offer a valuable solution. It is not a sales pitch.

Show passion and excitement for your idea! Know who you are pitching the product or service to. This could include potential customers, investors, lenders and more. Start with an attention-grabbing hook or opening statement. Then, you will need to include:

• The problem
• The solution
• The product or service
• Target market and size
• Competitors
• Closing statement

Each presenter will have only three minutes to pitch the business idea, and there will be timekeepers in each room. Slides and props are not allowed, but there will be space for your demo, product and marketing materials in the room.

Judges for both the open and final rounds will be a diverse mix of É«É«À² faculty, staff and local community members. Their job is to fairly score the student pitch presentations using a judging rubric. They will take between two to three minutes at the end of the pitch to ask questions.

Guests are encouraged to attend the final round of pitch presentations starting at noon in 2000 Schneider Hall.