|
(Wolfville,
NS) - After hundreds of hours of preparation, four eager
teams of students at Acadia University presented business plans at
the Wes Nicol Business Plan Competition. The winning team, A & E
Auto Brakes, won $6000 for their exceptional work.
“It was a lot of work
and an amazing experience”, said Erin Galway, a senior business
student at Acadia and a member of the winning team. “This
competition is an affirmation that the skills I’ve gained through
business school will be an effective tool for my future.”
Annie Wang, a graduate
student in computer science at Acadia, created the fictional A & E
Auto Brakes company. Wang says she one day hopes to start her own
company.
The second place team
who won $3000, Wealth of Health, included students Rachel McBay,
Karyn Peacocke, Katherine Risley, and Queen’s University student,
Truman Mailman. Third place winners Julia Mitton, Derrick Smith, and
Kaur Singh won $1000 for their Student SWAP business plan.
“The highlight of
today’s competition is watching teams of students who have developed
plans for businesses that are absolutely viable in today’s
marketplace”, said Dr. Conor Vibert, a professor at Acadia’s Fred C.
Manning School of Business Administration.
Sponsored by Ottawa
entrepreneur Wes Nicol, the Competition is designed to generate
interest in entrepreneurship on the part of Acadia students and to
help develop skills that will assist them as entrepreneurs. The
Competition is also designed to raise the profile of
entrepreneurship at Acadia and in the wider community.
“It was an empowering
experience for the students today as they realized they were
competing with the ‘cream of the crop’ at Acadia”, said Lisa
Lowthers, a small business counselor at the Acadia Centre for Small
Business and Entrepreneurship (ACSBE).
Of the original nine
to send in business plans, four teams were chosen by three local
entrepreneurs who also acted as judges of the Competition.
Organizers say that through this experience, students gain a greater
understanding of the work involved in developing a business plan and
the skills and abilities needed in the marketplace.
-30-
|
