Current student and alumnus named as business contest winners
Congratulations to current UW-Green Bay student Renee DeGrand (Business Administration) who took first place in the 2018 Northeast Wisconsin Business Plan Contest with her business plan for hobbyist e-commerce platform, “Fervid Life.” Jordan Lorenz ’12 (Hmanities) took second with his business plan for a better connector of college student job seekers to small businesses who have job openings, which he calls “JobKaddi.” Both DeGrand and Lorenz reside in Green Bay.
In third place was Dean Derksen of Sheboygan with his business plan for an employee-owned manufacturing company, which he calls EO.
These three entrepreneurs gave 10-minute business plan presentations at UW-Green Bay on Friday, November 30, 2018 and judges asked each entrepreneur questions about their business plans for 5 minutes. The finalists share in the $10,000 of in-kind services provided by contest sponsors.
The 2018 Northeast Wisconsin Business Plan Contest sponsors include T2, Laurie Crawford Coaching, Winnebago Seed Fund, WiSys, KerberRose, Keller, and the Austin E. Cofrin School of Business.
The Northeast Wisconsin Business Plan Contest was brought back after a four-year hiatus to increase the number of finalists in the annual www.GovsBizPlanContest.com and www.WisconsinYES.com from Northeast Wisconsin, increase inclusive entrepreneurial endeavors in Northeast Wisconsin, point entrepreneurs toward local and regional no-cost resources for assistance and mentorship within their Northeast Wisconsin communities for business planning, and to educate “wantrepreneurs” toward actual entrepreneurship via coopetition and expert feedback.
Entrants in the Northeast Wisconsin Business Plan Contest and those who were interested in entering the contest are encouraged to apply to the annual state business plan contest at www.GovsBizPlanContest.com, which is open now for entries. Middle school and high school students who entered or were considering entering the 2018 Northeast Wisconsin Business Plan Contest should enter the www.GovBizPlanContest.com as well as apply to the www.WisconsinYES.com contest, which will open shortly.
For questions about being a cash or in-kind sponsor of the 2019 Northeast Wisconsin Business Plan Contest next year, or for questions about finding local resources, which are often at no cost, for business planning assistance to prepare for contests and other objectives, please contact the contest administrators via Ryan Kauth at the Cofrin School of Business at KauthR@uwgb.edu or 920-465-2004. The awards can be viewed at https://newbpc2018.startupcompete.co/competition-award. Photos are available on Flickr.
Photos by UW-Green Bay photographer Dan Moore
