The final oral presentation round for the 2024 Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition will be held in person at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock April 15-17, and for the first time, the graduate division is being expanded to universities in the states that surround Arkansas.
This year’s competition offers 20 finalist teams including college students and graduates representing 11 colleges and universities in Arkansas, Mississippi and Oklahoma. Since its launch by Arkansas Capital Corporation in 2001, the Governor’s Cup has seen more than 3,000 student participants and awarded more than $2.8 million in prize money.
“The Governor’s Cup is Arkansas’ longest-running business plan competition with the largest all-cash prize pool,” said Tiffany Henry, ACC vice president. “We are excited to expand this opportunity to institutions from surrounding states and look forward to seeing the impact this program brings to students in the southern region of the United States.”
More than 40 volunteer judges, including many Arkansas-based entrepreneurs, small business owners and current or former large corporation executives, will help critique competing undergraduate and graduate teams during the written and oral competition rounds. Categories are high growth/technology, small business/main street and elevator pitch. The winners will be announced during the award luncheon on April 17 at 11:30 a.m. The total all-cash prize pool is $144,000, which includes $20,000 for first place in the high-growth division and $10,000 for first place in the small business division.
Sponsors for this year’s competition are Dhu Thompson (title sponsor), Walton Family Foundation (presenting sponsor), Winrock Automotive (division sponsor), Winrock Enterprise Ecosystem (division sponsor) and Dillard’s (elevator pitch sponsor). For more information, contact Henry at THenry@arcapital.com.
Photo at top: The competition luncheon features the popular elevator pitch competition. (Photo provided)
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