Amy (sitting), Sandra & Steven
Amy Asch (Winner of 2010 HCC/Newspring Business Plan Competition) and Sandra Louvier (Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship HCC NW) got the word out about HCC BIZCONNECT to morning commuters on the Talk 650 Morning show with Radio Show Hosts Steven Kay and Brent Clanton.
Amy and Brent Clanton (host) talked in one segment about how Amy has been propelled forward in turning her entrepreneurial dreams into her own photography studio through HCC BIZCONNECT workshops, seminars, classes and the Annual Business Plan Competition. Amy and her husband Tom entered the competition thinking winning would be great. But, mostly they just wanted the training and guidance it offered to help them prepare a business plan.
Amy described her path on the show: She and Tom attended a SCORE Workshop series in September 2009, which led to a 12-week class, taught by instructor and entrepreneur Deanna Teel. Then they entered the HCC Newspring Business Plan Competition.
Amy and Tom attended a series of five training Business Plan Competition training sessions and met regularly with their assigned team mentors and advisors..
Amy and Brent
They turned their written business plan in on April 8th.
Then they learned they were finalists. Next came presentations to judges. Team Asch and four other finalist teams presented their plans on April 28th .
The next day at the Awards Ceremony they found out that they won the competition!
Seventeen teams in all completed written business plans for their business idea. They found you don’t have to win prize money to win, because the biggest reward is the actual business plan they ended up with to use to seek funding for their business.
To get a taste of what HCC BIZCONNECT offers, many people start by attending an event, such as the Starting & Running Your Own Business Seminar (Sat. 8/21/10) or the Workshop Series (9/11/10) at HCC Spring Branch. Some then choose to earn the three-course business plan certificate. Others just take the one course that qualifies them to enter the competition. It’s called Small Business Management-An Entrepreneurial Approach. Registration is now open for fall and winter-mini classes. Applications to enter the competition are accepted from November 1, 2009 through January 20, 2011. The Business Plan Competition runs from January 20th through April 29, 2011. www.hccbizconnect.org has the scoop on it all! Tune in again on 8/18 to hear Sandra and Robert Westheimer (Newspring) talk more about the Business Plan Competition.