HBA Business Plan Competition (Concluded as of August 5, 2009)
Welcome to the Harlem Business Alliance's Business Plan Competition information page. All of the documents needed for the competition are available to download at the bottom of the page. Please mark these important deadline and decision dates on your calender: The Application deadline is Monday, July 13th; Business Plan submission deadline is Monday, July 20th at 8:00pm; Finalists will be selected on Wednesday, July 29th; Finalist Presentations are scheduled for Tuesday, August 4th; Awards will be presented on Wednesday, August 5th. Good Luck!
Prizes: 1st Place - $5,000 2nd Place - $2,500 3rd Place - $1,000
Link for Business Plan Submission: http://younoodle.com/groups/hba_business_plan_competition
Competition Guidelines
1. Application. Entrants to the competition must complete an application to enter the Competition. Applications must be submitted no later than Monday, July 13, 2009. An application is attached below.
2. Age. All Competition applicants must be 18 years of age and must be residents of Upper Manhattan, living north of 110th Street. Documentation may be required.
3. Location. The business proposed in the competition application must be located in the Upper Manhattan, New York boundaries defined as north of 110th Street. Site visits may be conducted.
4. Residency. All individual applicants and team members must be legal U.S. residents or citizens. All individual applicants and/or team leaders must be residents of Upper Manhattan and have a mailing address within the Upper Manhattan boundaries (we will not accept post office boxes). Documentation will be required of the finalists.
5. Eligibility. Anyone interested in opening a for-profit start-up business in Upper Manhattan; or the owner of an existing for-profit business with revenues of under $500,000 and located in Upper Manhattan.
6. Individual and Team Entry. One or more people (up to four individuals) may submit a plan as part of a team, if all members are involved in the proposed business described in the competition application. Team applications must list all individuals on the team. The Business Plan Competition entrants may enter only once, either as an individual or as part of a team. The team must appoint one individual as the team leader and main contact and one other as the secondary contact. All team members will sign the application reflecting their understanding and acceptance of the stated rules. The prize awarded represents the financial amount in total that will be given to a team leader to be disbursed to use for the purposes stated in the plan.
7. Deadline. All business plans are due by July 20, 2009 at 6:00 pm. Applicants must submit one non-electronic copy and one electronic copy of their business plan to: http://younoodle.com/groups/hba_business_plan_competition
8. Ineligibility. Current Harlem Business Alliance employees and board members, or any individual paid by the Harlem Business Alliance or their immediate family members are not eligible to enter business plan competition either individually or as part of a team.
9. Disbursement of Funds. Prize money will be awarded to each winner following the end of the competition. The winning Competition entrant or team will have sole responsibility for deciding how to allocate or otherwise use its prize proceeds. The organizers of Competition will not be involved, either voluntarily or by request, in a team's decision concerning the allocation or use of its prize proceeds. Please note that these awards are taxable and that the Harlem Business Alliance must have each winner's Social Security number before a check can be issued.
10. Disqualification. The Application is a legal and binding document. The signing of this document represents you have read, understand and accept the guidelines, terms and conditions set forth. Violation of any one or multiple rules for eligibility may result in disqualification from Competition at any point of the discovery of the violation.
11. Confidentiality. Recognizing that entrants may be concerned about the confidentiality of their business plans, business plans will not be copied for any purpose other than the competition. While all reasonable measures will be taken to ensure the protection of intellectual property and preserve the confidentiality of each submission, the Harlem Business Alliance cannot take further responsibility to protect the intellectual property or other rights of each contestant. Protection of such rights is ultimately the responsibility of each applicant. Hard copies of the business plans may be picked up at the end of the competition, if not, they will be destroyed.
Terms & Conditions
The Harlem Business Alliance Business Plan Competition requires each applicant (including, if applicable, team members) to agree to the following conditions:
Originality - The ideas and concepts outlined in the Business Plan is the original work of the applicants.
Disclosure - Applicants are not under any express or implied agreement (verbal or written) that prohibit their ability to disclose ideas or plans to the Harlem Business Alliance Business Plan Competition.
Guideline Compliance - Each applicant has reviewed the guidelines for the Harlem Business Alliance Business Plan Competition. Signatures below certify that the team entry complies with Guidelines and agrees to abide by the Guidelines. Disqualification and/or forfeiture of prizes will result for team entries that fail to comply with the Guidelines.
Waivers and Releases - Protection of highly confidential or trade secret information is the responsibility of team members. All Business Plan proposals will be handled confidentially. Competition judges, however, will not be required to sign nondisclosure documents. All electronic submitted Business Plans become part of the Competition and will not be returned to the team. Team members are strongly advised to keep their own copies of their Business Plan. Winners of the Business Plan Competition grant the Competition the right, without compensation, to publish finalist and company names, any non-financial information, photographs, audio recordings, and video recordings for promotional, public relations, and advertising materials. Winners of the Business Plan Competition are responsible for any tax and/or tax consequences resulting from the award. All decisions made by the judges on all matters relating to the Competition are final. The Competition, at its discretion, reserves the unrestricted right to interpret these rules, and to alter, amend, or change them.
For more information contact Lawrence King at 347.346.3903.
