Five teams reach UMaine Business Challenge
With a total of $20,000 in cash and prizes dangling before them, five teams from three different schools reached the finals of the 2017 UMaine Business Challenge.
The six-year-old competition, which recently expanded to all colleges and universities in Maine, will culminate April 29 with a live pitch event to judges at the University of Maine at Orono. The competition is presented by Business Lending Solutions.
Students from freshmen to PhD candidates from at least five different Maine schools submitted business ideas in various disciplines, including art history and mechanical engineering.
“There were more applicants this year than any other year” Nicholas LaJoie, the 2017 UBC Planning Committee chair, said in a statement. “Some well thought-out business plans couldn’t be moved forward, and that’s a testament to the five teams selected.”
The finalists are:
- Bradley Shepherd, a second-year graduate student at the University of Maine.
- Anita van Dam, a sophomore at the College of the Atlantic.
- Benjamin Koehlern, a senior at the University of Maine.
- Michael D. Parks, an undergraduate at Southern Maine Community College.
- Ian Shea, a senior at the University of Maine.
They will now be assigned mentors and have seven weeks to prepare for the live pitch in April. They will be competing for a $5,000 first place prize provided by Business Lending Solutions, which also will provide $5,000 of in kind services. A $1,000 second place prize, sponsored by the Maine Business School, is also up for grabs. The Bruce Fournier Foundation will offer a $10,000, milestone-based Tech Prize.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments