The Madison College Challenge is designed to provide enhanced educational and experiential learning opportunities for Madison College students as well as provide a source of startup funding to the winners of the business plan competition. Hosted by the School of Business and Applied Arts, the Madison College Challenge is open to all current students enrolled in at least one credit or non-credit course during the spring semester of each year and have successfully completed the Madison College entrepreneurship immersion course “From Innovation to Implementation.” This course, available in credit or non-credit formats, was specifically designed to help students from all across the College, regardless of their career interest and academic training, succeed in this competition. Note: Students enrolled in Madison College’s Small Business Management associate degree program who have completed either the “Small Business Development and Planning” course or the “Small Business Marketing” course are also eligible to participate in the business plan competition without having completed the course “From Innovation to Implementation.”
Only one business plan may be submitted by either an individual or a team of students. Starting in March, successful competitors progress through three phases of reviews by judges with the winners being selected in May. A cash prize is only awarded for Grand Prize Winner. However in-kind prizes are awarded for the first, second, and third place in each of the three industry clusters: 1) life sciences and health care; 2) advanced manufacturing, agriculture, and food systems; and 3) design, technology, and business services.
Timeline
January 14-March 15, 2013. Students must enroll in and successfully complete the credit or non-credit course “From Innovation to Implementation” or have previously completed either the “Small Business Development and Planning” or “Small Business Marketing” course.
March 29, 2013, 4pm CST. Phase 1 Feasibility Analyses are due in electronic file format using the Feasibility Analysis Template provided.
April 5, 2013, 4pm CST. Top 21 Phase 1 Feasibility Analyses are announced electronically and invited to prepare complete Business Plans for Phase 2.
April 19, 2013, 4pm CST. Phase 2 Business Plans are due in electronic file format using the Business Plan Template provided.
May 3, 2013, 4pm CST. Top winning Business Plans per category (life sciences and health care; advanced manufacturing, agriculture, and food systems; and design, technology, and business services) are announced electronically and invited to prepare final presentations for Phase 3.
May 10, 2013, 1-4pm CST. Phase 3 Oral Business Plan Presentations (in person), TBA.
May 17, 2013, 6-8pm CST. Madison College Challenge Awards Ceremony, TBA.
Rules and Guidelines
The Madison College Challenge is open to all students enrolled in at least one credit or non-credit course in the spring semester of each academic calendar year. Students in all degree and non-degree programs and career pathways are encouraged to participate.
Students entering the competition must have completed the Madison College’s entrepreneurship immersion course “From Innovation to Implementation.” This course, available in both credit and non-credit formats, was specifically designed to help students from all across the College, regardless of their career interest and academic training, succeed in this competition. Note: Students enrolled in Madison College’s Small Business Management associate degree program who have completed either the “Small Business Development and Planning” course or the “Small Business Marketing” course are also eligible to participate in the business plan competition without having completed the course “From Innovation to Implementation.”
Qualified students (see above) may enter as either an individual contestant or as a team constestant but not as both. A student may be a member of only one team and the maximum number of students per team is restricted to five.
Only one electronic submission of the Feasibility Analysis and subsequent Business Plan per individual contestant or team contestant is permitted and must comply with the required format as well as utilize the Feasibility Analysis and Business Plan templates provided. All entries must be received electronically by the specified time and date. No late submissions will be accepted and absolutely no exceptions or deviations will be allowed.
The Feasibility Analysis and Business Plan may only be submitted in one category (life sciences and health care; advanced manufacturing, agriculture, and food systems; and design, technology, and business services). Once the Feasibility Analysis is submitted for a selected category in Phase 1, the contestant cannot change the category if invited by the judges to submit a complete Business Plan in Phase 2.
Ideas submitted as part of an individual’s or team’s Feasibility Analysis and Business Plan must represent the original work of the individual or team. Participants will be required to sign a certification to that effect as part of the initial entry process. Competitors may re-submit entries from subsequent years.
The Business Plan must be for the creation of a new business or an existing business in early stages of development (e.g., annual gross sales of less than $10,000 per year, etc. Please contact the competition administrator with any questions.). Franchises will not be considered as a new business for this competition.
Submitted materials are protected in the spirit of non-disclosure and all entries will be treated as confidential submissions. Only judges and Madison College Challenge committee members will have access to submitted materials. However, individual and team entrants are encouraged to take appropriate measures to protect their intellectual property rights as no specific provisions will be taken by Madison College to protect any individual’s or team’s intellectual property.
Judging of entries will be performed by a panel of independent judges consisting of professionals and representatives of Madison College and may include winning competitors from previous years. Using a predetermined scoring rubric (see Judging Criteria below), each entry for both the Feasibility Analysis and Business Plan will be awarded points. Those points will be tallied and the entries with the highest three scores in each category will be declared category winners. In the event of a tie, judges will select the entry with the highest merit as determined by criteria such as market potential, financial viability, and other factors determined by the judging panel. All decisions of the judges will be final.
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