Oswego County announces 2014 business-plan competition

OSWEGO — Oswego County has announced plans for the competition, dubbed “The Next Great Idea: 2014 Oswego County Business Plan Competition” (NGI), with a top prize of $25,000.

The NGI competition will accept business-concept proposals from Jan. 22 through April 11, Austin Wheelock, co-chair of the NGI steering committee, said in a news release.

The contest culminates with an awards luncheon in November.

The NGI competition has three phases and requires the selected participants to develop full business plans and make an in-person “pitch” to a panel of judges, Wheelock said.

The judging panel will include local bankers, business owners, venture capitalists, and angel investors. The panel will determine which proposals will advance to subsequent phases, he said.

The Richard S. Shineman Foundation of Oswego, Operation Oswego County, the Small Business Development Center at SUNY Oswego, KeyBank (NYSE: KEY), and Pathfinder Bank have provided financial support for the program, Wheelock said.

In addition, the eventual winner can “potentially” leverage the $25,000 equity prize to borrow up to $250,000 in partnership with local banks, the Oswego County Industrial Development Agency, the cities of Oswego and Fulton community-development offices, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and other economic-development agencies and programs, he added.

Past winners have included Lakeside Artisans in 2010, and Ocean Blue Technology, LLC, in the inaugural NGI competition in 2008, Wheelock said.

More information is available at the website www.oswegocounty.org/ngi, which includes an overview of the event, the application, a competition timeline, guidelines, details on the $25,000 prize, sponsors, and partners, he added.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com