Business plan competition set for Fort Worth

A total of $40,000 in cash and in-kind services will be awarded to area small businesses in the 2014 Fort Worth Business Plan Competition. Applications for the fourth annual competition – sponsored by the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center (BAC), Capital One Bank and The Alternative Board – are now being accepted. To be eligible to compete businesses must be in Tarrant County or be a previous BAC client regardless of location, have an annual revenue of up to $500,000 and have been operating for at least six months. Past winners, city of Fort Worth employees and not-for-profit organizations are ineligible.

Deadline for completing applications is July 1. Applications can be completed on the website at www.fwbusinessplancompetition.com or printed and mailed to the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center at 1150 South Freeway, Fort Worth, TX 76104. Twenty-five semi-finalists will be selected from the entries by a panel of industry experts. They will participate in mandatory training sessions in August that focus on how to write a business plan and will submit completed business plans by Sept. 15. Three finalists will be chosen by a panel of judges in October. They will receive business development consultation from local small business experts. Cash prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place winners on Oct. 30. Also in partnership with BAC since the Business Plan Competition’s inception are SCORE, Tarrant Small Business Development Center and Texas Christian University Neeley School of Business. The competition is sponsored by Capital One Bank and The Alternative Board.

Betty Dillard bdillard@bizpress.net