New Venture Competition kickoff inspires future entrepreneurs


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Judges, mentors, and participants alike wait for the beginning of the New Venture Competition March 27 in the French Auditorium of the Education and Human Services Building. 

Illuminated by the achievements of past students on the projector behind him, Charles Crespy inspired nearly 150 students to make their business dreams a reality.

Crespy, dean of the College of Business Administration at Central Michigan University, tossed aside buzzwords and catchy business lingo; he let Shakespeare do the job.

“There is a tide in the affairs of men which taken on the flood leads on to waves of fortune,” Crespy said slowly. “When omitted, all the journey of their lives is mired in the shallows and misery. On this full tide let us now sail; for if we don’t we will lose the venture.”

This year, $75,000 will be awarded to students to support their business dreams, all through the university’s New Venture Competition.

The program serves as a catalyst for students to turn their ideas into sustainable business ventures. Participating teams gain mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs with hands-on start up experience as well as alumni, venture capital experts, angel investors and community leaders.

CMU’s New Venture Competition is only in its fifth year but is recognized nationwide for giving students the opportunity to ride the tide of their ambition. During the summer, it was named the Educational Program of the Year by Automation Alley for positively impacting the region’s skilled labor market.

The experience offers workshops, coaching, and networking over an eight month period, starting in September and culminating on Venture Competition Day in March.

During this time, participants present their ideas and business models to more than 50 judges from across the country. Each contestant is judged from a field of eight categories, with the first prize rewarding $30,000 in start-up money for their business.

Entrepreneurs are encouraged to gather customer and marketplace input, build a rough prototype of their product or service and use the information to build their start-up business.

“It’s essentially free business classes, you would be crazy not to take advantage of that,” said alumnus Courtney Lorenz, who won best overall venture in 2013 for her hybridized wine cork company.

The Un-Cork company is currently trying to use their $30,000 winnings to tap into the wine industry.

“Participating in the competition was a huge confidence booster,” she added. “I gained connections with lawyers, patent attorneys, venture capitalists; it was a huge opportunity.”

Deb Zellner, executive director of the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship, said the most important aspect of the competition are the connections students can make with entrepreneurs with experience in a wide variety of fields.

She assembled a group of leaders from a variety industries creating what Crespy called the “finest entrepreneurship program in Michigan.”

He said the event has gotten so large, they have to host their awards ceremony in McGuirk Arena. The students assembled for the New Venture Competition kick-off in Grawn 150 Wednesday night were from all the university’s academic colleges.

“Our goal is to get the entire campus energized with business ideas, so it’s not just business students (participating), there’s students from all over,” Crespy said. “I think we have made good strides, in that students from every college on campus participated.”

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About Malachi Barrett

Editor-in-Chief Malachi Barrett is Battle Creek senior majoring in journalism with a minor in ...

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