By William Burke
Entrepreneurship Competition Coordinator, Franklin P. Perdue School of Business
Around the world, entrepreneurship is at its highest levels in years. But don’t just take my word for it. According to The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, a partnership between Babson College and the London Business School, nearly 14 percent of adults in the United States were involved in startup companies in 2014 — up from just 7.6 percent in 2010. This represents the largest number since the Monitor was founded in 1999.
The news is even better for young entrepreneurs. The Monitor’s 2014 report noted some 18 percent of the nation’s 25- to 34-year-olds were starting or running new businesses, up from 15 percent in 2013.
Salisbury University and its Franklin P. Perdue School of Business have long been supporters of the entrepreneurial spirit. In 1987, we hosted our first Bernstein Achievement Award for Excellence student business plan competition, sponsored by local entrepreneur Richard Bernstein. In the 28 years since, young entrepreneurs have used their winnings to start local and regional businesses including Nacho Pete’s restaurant, the Wear It Again consignment shop, Tender Heart Child Care, Netzotic, McFadden Art Glass and A.I.R. Lawn Care, among others.
In 2013, the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation recognized SU’s commitment to entrepreneurship with a $1 million gift to create the Ratcliffe Shore Hatchery program. Each academic year through spring 2018, $200,000 will be presented to assist startups selected by the program’s board of directors, which includes such local business leaders as Perdue Farms Chairman Jim Perdue and Dave Rommel, owner of Rommel Electric Company and Rommel Harley-Davidson.
The goal is to assist entrepreneurs and help them create new jobs in the community. Participants also receive business mentoring from board members.
This year, those and other events come together during SU’s first Entrepreneurship Week, May 3-9. The fourth round of the Shore Hatchery competition is scheduled Thursday, May 7.
Though early afternoon presentations will be for board members only, finalist presentations later in the afternoon and evening in Perdue Hall’s Bennett Family Auditorium will be open to the public. The competition is open to entrepreneurs throughout the mid-Atlantic. Submissions are due by Tuesday, April 7. For application materials and more information visit https://www2.salisbury.edu/perdue/sh.
In recent years, the Bernstein Achievement Award competition has become the capstone for a day of student business competitions offering up to $100,000 in cash and prizes. This year’s competitions, scheduled Friday, May 8, start with an Invest in My Idea poster session that allows all participants to visually share their business ideas.
Fifteen winners move on to the Gull Cage. This Shark Tank-style competition allows one minute for delivering verbal pitches about the ventures and four minutes for answering judges’ questions.
These top four finalists move on to the Bernstein Award competition. Vying for a grand prize of $10,000, they will have 20 minutes to present and answer questions about their full business plans. As with the Shore Hatchery, the public is invited to view the finalists’ presentations, also in Bennett Family Auditorium.
Entrepreneurship Week culminates with the return of Shark Tank to SU Saturday, May 9. ABC’s hit business competition TV show, which first held an open casting call at the University last spring, conducts a second round in Perdue Hall. In 2014, small business owners and startup hopefuls came from as far away as Florida to participate. This is one of only five casting calls scheduled for the show this year and one of only two on the East Coast.
Hosted by 47 ABC, the Perdue School and Maryland Capital Enterprises, interviews take place from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. On-site registration begins at 9 a.m. Pre-registration is open now. For application forms and information visit http://abc.go.com/shows/shark-tank/open-call. To pre-register call 410-742-4747, ext. 346.
Additional Entrepreneurship Week events may be announced closer to the date. For the latest information, visit the SU website at www.salisbury.edu.
We are excited to help support the business owners of tomorrow — and we encourage you to do so, as well. Stop by one of our competitions and see what goods and services may be available in the near future. Who knows? You might just catch the entrepreneurship bug yourself — and help push this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Monitor numbers even higher.
