Simmons College Hosts Second Annual Business Plan Competition For Women Entrepreneurs, To Award $20,000
Local Women Entrepreneurs Compete for $20K to Start or Grow Their Own Ventures
BOSTON (Oct. 11, 2007) Three women entrepreneurs will compete for $20,000 in seed money and in-kind prizes to launch or grow their own ventures, as part of the second annual Silverman Business Plan Competition finals, held Oct. 12 at the Simmons School of Management, the only business school specifically designed for women.
The finalists, Jennifer Christian-Murtie and Beth Doherty Evers, both 2007 graduates of the Simmons School of Management (SOM), and Kimberly Morse, a 2004 SOM graduate, were selected from a group of 12 semi-finalists to present their business ideas in the final round of the competition. Their plans include an eco-tourism company, a negotiation consulting business, and a life-coaching firm, respectively.
The annual Silverman Business Plan Competition, open to Simmons School of Management alumnae and students, is designed to support women in launching and leading innovative and successful entrepreneurial ventures. As part of the competitive process, participants are paired with mentors around their areas of developmental need, including business plan development and fundraising pitch refinement. Participants also gain access to experts including established entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, bankers, and lawyers.
“The competition is a capstone for the Simmons School of Management’s nationally ranked Entrepreneurship Program, offering students the opportunity to explore entrepreneurship through coursework, interaction with practitioners, and hand-on experience,” said Simmons School of Management Dean Deborah Merrill-Sands.
Christian-Murtie will introduce Yadumu, LLC, a company that provides environmental, economic, and sustainable development advice to hotels, lodges, and camps in the ecotourism industry in Africa. Evers will target the higher education and health care markets with her business plan for Negotiating Successful Collaboration (NSC), a negotiation consulting business offering customized training and coaching services to administrative professionals. Morse will present Catapult Coaching and Consulting Group LLC, a life-coaching firm dedicated to helping corporations create an organizational culture that attracts, engages, and retains its employees.
Several sponsors have donated in-kind prizes, including legal services from Indigo Venture Law Offices; brand coaching from Mavens and Moguls; logo development from Corey McPherson Nash; and training programs from The Capital Network.
The Silverman Business Plan Competition is named in recognition of a major gift from Lois Silverman, founder of CRA Managed Care (now Concentra Managed Care), and founding chair of The Commonwealth Institute. The competition is also supported by the Simmons School of Management Class of 2002.
The finals judging panel includes Neal Yanofsky, president of Panera Bread, an operator and franchisor of more than 1,000 bakery cafes; Sheryl Marshall, vice president at Credit-Suisse who has more than 25 years of experience on Wall Street; Indira Patel, president & CEO of New England Office Supply, Inc., one of Working Woman magazine’s Top 500 women-owned businesses in the U.S.; and Carol Vallone, a seasoned technology executive with more than 25 years of experience building multinational businesses, including WebCT (acquired by Blackboard, Inc. in 2006).
The Simmons School of Management (www.simmons.edu/som), the only business school in the world designed specifically for women, is committed to advancing women of diverse backgrounds into leadership positions. Simmons College (www.simmons.edu) is a nationally recognized private university located in the heart of Boston.
Filed under MBA News and SOM News
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