News

For Immediate Release -- January 19, 2007

Contact: Christopher Burns, HTR Marketing & Programs Manager
   (585) 214-2403 // Christopher.burns@htr.org

2007 ROCHESTER REGIONAL BUSINESS PLAN CONTEST OPENS;
ENTREPRENEURS INVITED TO COMPETE

West Henrietta, NY – Organizing sponsors High Tech Rochester, Greater Rochester Enterprise, Rochester Institute of Technology and University of Rochester jointly announce the 2007 Rochester Regional Business Plan Contest opens today and is now accepting Contestant Applications.

The 2007 Rochester Regional Business Plan Contest offers contestants a chance at winning a First-place prize package valued at over $25,000, and all three Contest winners will each also receive a customized package of professional services and office space to accelerate their growth.

But new for 2007, 1st and 2nd place winners from the Rochester Regional Business Plan Contest will automatically advance to compete in the first-ever 2007 Golden Horseshoe Business Plan Competition. This new, international event will be inaugurated in Rochester, NY on May 31st, 2007. Participants, drawn from several Upstate New York and Southern Ontario, Canada communities, will compete for a Grand Prize of $100,000 cash.

“The annual Rochester Regional Business Plan Contest is one of the most exciting entrepreneurial events in Rochester, and we’re anticipating applicants from entrepreneurs across a variety of industries, including for-profit and non-profit, high-tech and low-tech, traditional and Internet,” shared Christopher Burns, HTR’s Marketing & Programs Manager. “But as the single pathway in the region to competing in the international Golden Horseshoe Contest, the Rochester Contest will attract a larger and more sophisticated set of competing companies this year, and we’re looking forward to showcasing the true strength of entrepreneurship in Greater Rochester.”

Early Applicants benefit from attending four business plan workshops to help them prepare solid plans, with the first Workshop being held Wednesday February 7th, 2007. Applicants are being invited from across the nine-county Finger Lakes region; entrepreneurs with scalable, high-growth-potential business concepts are especially encouraged to compete. Applications and Contest Guidelines are available online at www.htr.org .

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About the 2007 Rochester Regional Business Plan Contest

The 2007 Rochester Regional Business Plan Contest’s four organizing sponsors are High Tech Rochester, Greater Rochester Enterprise, Rochester Institute of Technology and University of Rochester. Gold Sponsors for the Contest include Nixon Peabody, LLP, and Nazareth College. This year’s Contest begins in February with a series of Business Plan Workshops that run through March. Contestants will work on their business plans during the winter, submitting them for judging in early April. Judging will then begin, culminating in the announcement of three winners at the Regional Finals on May 3rd, 2007.

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About HTR…the innovators’ edge

High Tech Rochester is a not-for-profit economic development organization that receives significant financial support from the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR®), New York’s high-technology economic development agency, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). 

HTR is focused on regional economic development in the technology and high growth business sector, and assists the development of new and emerging businesses through its business incubator, the Lennox Tech Enterprise Center.  Through its Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the organization improves the competitive position of small manufacturing firms. HTR, the Innovator’s Edge, serves as NYSTAR’s designated Regional Technology Development Center for the Finger Lakes region and one of nearly 350 MEP locations across the country. Learn more at www.htr.org.

About Greater Rochester Enterprise

Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE) is a public-private partnership established to professionally market the Rochester metropolitan region as a competitive, high-profile place for business location and growth. Its efforts support business attraction and expansion, as well as entrepreneurship and innovation.  GRE collaborates with businesses, universities, not-for-profit organizations and government leaders to ensure a unified approach to regional economic development.  For more information, please go to www.RochesterBiz.com.

About Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester Institute of Technology is internationally recognized as a leader in computing, engineering, imaging technology, fine and applied arts, and education of the deaf. More than 15,500 full- and part-time students are enrolled in RIT’s 340 career-oriented and professional programs, and its cooperative education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.

One of eight colleges at RIT, the E. Philip Saunders College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB International) and enrolls more than 1,200 undergraduate and graduate students. The college is spearheading an initiative to establish a university-wide Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and is also creating a new research center and academic major in consumer financial services. Learn more at http://www.cob.rit.edu/

About University of Rochester

The Simon School prides itself as the place Where Thinkers Become Leaders™ and is currently ranked among the leading graduate business schools in the world in rankings published by the popular press, including BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Forbes. For example, in the most recent BusinessWeek poll, the Simon School was ranked among the top 30 business schools in the United States. The Financial Times recently rated the School 4th in the world for finance 6th in the world for both accounting and managerial economics. More information about the Simon School is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.simon.rochester.edu.

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