Press Release: 3/13/02

The cash prizes for this year's entrepreneurial development competition will total $102,000, up from $63,000 last year, sponsor Arkansas Economic Acceleration Coporation said Tuesday.

The group says it has already attracted 60 teams from 10 Arkansas four-year colleges and universities to participate in the second annual Governor's Award for Entrepreneurial Development. Officials estimate that half the teams will come from Northwest Arkansas.

Teams of graduate or undergraduate students have until April 5 to submit business plans for the competition.

Each team is judged on a business plan it creates for a seed, startup or early-stage venture. The idea is to encourage entrepreneurship, while also letting students know that venture capital and loans are available in Arkansas, said Al Hodge, senior portfolio manager of the Arkansas Capital Corporation Group.

Arkansas Economic Acceleration Corporation is an affiliate of the Arkansas Capital Corporation Group based in Little Rock, which is a family of companies that provides financial and technical assistance for business development.

"Our companies support business in the state of Arkansas," Hodge said. Now, they're "trying to get that entrepreneurial spirit inside the universities."

Once awards are announced, checks are made out to individual students who can do as they please with the money. But Hodge said the hope is that the cash is applied to business development.

"We're actually looking to start additional businesses in the state of Arkansas," he said. "We're keeping track of these students to see what happens to them."

The program's semifinal competition will be April 26 at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. The final competition will be April 27 at the arts center. Three winning teams and their placement will be announced April 30.

One of the winning students in 2001 was Stuart Walker of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, who earned $20,000 for his second-place finish. He was a one-person entrant who developed a product that enables people to prepare hickory flavored meats with a gas or electric grill.

Walker is seeking a master's degree in business administration from UA, but hopes to open his own business after graduating this year. He said the competition taught him about finances, while allowing him to network with people in the financial community.

He said that's important because developing new products is key to the U.S. economy. Walker added that it's impossible to know how an idea will do until it's in the marketplace.

Being an entrepreneur is "an excellent way to get out there and test ideas," he said.