RI BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION TO HOST ELEVATOR PITCH CONTEST NOV. 15

PROVIDENCE — (Oct. 25, 2016) — The Rhode Island Business Plan Competition today announced that it will host its annual Elevator Pitch Contest on Nov. 15, which will award $1,000 in cash prizes to the top presenters.

Aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs, age 18 or older, will have 90 seconds to pitch their business idea in front of a live audience to a panel of judges, who will provide feedback.

Registrations to make a pitch are due by 5 pm on Nov. 11, and can be made online at www.ri-bizplan.com. The event—free and open to the public—will be held 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Tech Collective, 166 Valley St., Building 3, Providence.

Attendees who want to watch, but not present, are asked to pre-register at the same website.

Each presenter will make a 90-second presentation to a panel of judges, after which the judges will score the participants and give them feedback about the clarity and persuasiveness of their pitch. At the end of the event, cash prizes totaling $1,000 will be awarded to the best presenters.

The following have agreed to volunteer as Elevator Pitch judges:
Todd Knapp, CEO, Envision Technology Advisors
Daniel A. Murphy, Senior Vice President of Business Development, Home Loan Investment Bank
Barbara Schoenfeld, Executive Director, Brooks, Houghton & Co., Inc.
Jennifer Schwall Rousseau, Executive Director, Cherrystone Angel Group
Dan Sullivan, Senior Account Executive, Salesforce

Sponsors of the 2017 Competition

Lead sponsors of the 2017 Competition are Bryant University, Everhope Foundation, MedMates, Hinckley Allen, Integrated Media Group, KLR, and Sprout.

Also sponsoring the 2017 Competition are Bank of America, Barlow, Joseph & Holmes, Ltd., Betaspring, Brown University Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, Center for Women and Enterprise, Community College of Rhode Island, Cumulus Media-Providence, Envision Technology Advisors, FM Global, Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, GrowthLab Financial, Hatch Entrepreneurial Center, Roger Williams University, Social Enterprise Greenhouse, Tech Collective, URI College of Business Administration, and Verizon.

Additional sponsors include AAA Northeast, Bank Rhode Island, BankNewport, The Beacon Mutual Insurance Co., Bridge.jobs, Business Development Company, Care New England Health System, Cherrystone Angel Group, Citizens Bank, Classic Hassocks, Collette Travel Service, CompNet Insurance Solutions, Davol, Deepwater Wind, Delta Dental of Rhode Island, Dimeo Construction Company, EpiVax, Freedom National Bank, Gilbane Building Company, Hayes & Sherry Real Estate Services, The Hilb Group of New England, Johnson & Wales University, The Moore Company, Navigant Credit Union, Newport Biodiesel, Rajiv Kumar, Richard Carriere, Slater Technology Fund, Starkweather & Shepley, StormTree, Teknor Apex, and The Washington Trust Company.

About the Competition

Established in 2000, the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition has been recognized as one of the top 40 business plan competitions in the country. To date, it has awarded more than $2 million in prizes to developing companies across many industries.

The Competition is free and open to everyone age 18 or over whether or not they already have started a business. Complete information, including rules, application procedures, guidelines, and business plan resources, is available at www.ri-bizplan.com.

Leave a comment