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COSE Seeks Best Business Plans
CLEVELAND -- The Council of Smaller Enterprises is sponsoring the Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge 2005, the third Challenge since 2002, officials announced recently. The Business Plan Challenge is one of COSE's tools to support and nurture entrepreneurship as part of its ongoing mission to help small businesses grow and thrive in northeast Ohio. "The Business Plan Challenge gives us an opportunity to share what we've learned and encourage sound business planning that leads to successful businesses," said Jeanne Coughlin, chairman of COSE and president of The Coughlin Group.The program offers $120,000 in prize money to contest winners, Coughlin said. Three grand prize winners in the main categories -- Start Up, Idea/Concept and Growth/Innovation -- will share $90,000. Other winners will share $30,000 in the Judges Special Recognition Awards categories, which are Manufacturing, Technology, 30 and Under, Female, Minority, Nonprofit, Artist and Sustainability. "We're doing this again because we truly believe that the key to the region's economic growth is our collective ability to encourage and support innovative companies by helping them start and grow," Coughlin said.A letter of intent is required to enter the contest. The letter is due Aug. 3, 2005. Final business plans are due by Sept. 6, 2005. Winners will be announced at COSE's next annual meeting in December 2005.The project's Web site contains all contest details including a list of seminars, resources and networking opportunities throughout the region that can help with the writing process and overall business growth. Registration at the site is recommended. "There are important non-cash benefits to entering the Challenge," said Steve Millard, executive director of COSE. "Not only will entering prompt an entrepreneur to create a business plan, which is a critical tool for running any business, but it will also provide them with valuable feedback from our judges that can improve a business model and lead to success."The Challenge also will offer ongoing education and networking opportunities with peers, mentors, vendors and assistance providers. Entrants can connect with potential mentors at networking events, learn how to apply for government loans at educational programs, or search the database of assistance providers and find resources that match their needs, Millard said.Winners of COSE's first two contests include Synapse Biomedical Ltd., which invented a minimally invasive device that helps permanently paralyzed patients breathe on their own; Stack LLC, which publishes StacK, an online magazine for athletes; The Rutledge Insurance Agency, an independent agency in Cleveland's Buckeye neighborhood; and Home Team Marketing, a company that helps high schools generate funding through the use of athletic marketing partnerships. All four businesses have grown exponentially since winning the Challenge and credit their success partially to the feedback, support and cash rewards that come with the Business Plan Challenge.Visit Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge 2005: www.neochallenge.org"