Capital One Bank Announces Bayou Classic Business Plan Competition
NEW ORLEANS – Capital One Bank, in partnership with the 41st Annual Bayou Classic, today announced the 2014 Capital One Bank Bayou Classic Business Plan Competition, a small business growth plan competition that is being held in conjunction with the 2014 Bayou Classic series of events.
The purpose of the Capital One Bank Bayou Classic Business Plan Competition, which will award a total of $60,000 in cash prizes, is to help small businesses in Louisiana grow and create jobs.
The competition will feature two categories, one for businesses with annual revenues of less than $250,000, and one for businesses with annual revenues of between $250,000 and $1 million.
Finalists in the statewide competition for both categories will make an oral presentation at the Capital One Bank Bayou Classic Business Growth Plan Competition on Nov. 28, before the winners are announced on the field during the nationally televised Bayou Classic football game Nov. 29. Each category winner will receive a cash prize of $25,000. The businesses finishing in second place will each receive a cash prize of $5,000.
“At Capital One Bank, we are committed to ‘Investing for Good’ in Louisiana communities, connecting our company’s people and financial resources to education, financial literacy and small business and workforce development,” said Rob Stuart, Capital One Bank Louisiana State President. “The Bayou Classic is a Louisiana tradition, and the Capital One Bank Bayou Classic Business Plan Competition is a great example of how Capital One brings ‘Investing for Good’ to life for small businesses in Louisiana. We’re pleased to partner with Louisiana SBDC, ACCION Louisiana and Money Management International to offer this competition and support the Bayou Classic.”
“We are excited to have Capital One Bank as part of the 41st Annual Bayou Classic this year,” said Dottie Belletto, President of New Orleans Convention Company, Inc., the management firm of the 41st Annual Bayou Classic. “The Capital One Bank Bayou Classic Business Plan Competition continues to build the business opportunities available to entrepreneurs at Bayou Classic. The Bayou Classic events are more than just a football game, but an opportunity to support and grow the business community through multiple opportunities — with this new Capital One Bank program being the pinnacle at this year’s series of events.”
To be eligible for the competition, businesses and their owners must meet the following criteria:
Have annual revenues of less than $250,000, to compete in category No. 1, or between $250,000 and $1 million, to compete in category No. 2.
Be based in Louisiana.
Have owned the business since before Oct. 31, 2013.
Submit a letter of intent by Oct. 31, 2014.
Submit a business growth plan by Nov. 7, 2014.
Applicants must attend one of two business development workshops offered on Oct. 24 or Oct. 25 in any of the following Louisiana cities: Baton Rouge, New Orleans or Shreveport.
The training dates and locations for the three cities are:
Greater New Orleans
Oct. 24 and Oct. 25, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Louisiana Small Business Development Center
UNO Jefferson Center
3330 N. Causeway Blvd., Rm. 317
Metairie, LA 70002 (parking is free)
Shreveport
Oct. 24, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
CoHabitat Foundation
500 Clyde Fant Parkway
Shreveport, LA 71101
or
Oct. 25, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Convention Center
400 Caddo Street
Shreveport, LA 71101
Baton Rouge
Oct. 24, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
American Red Cross
4655 Sherwood Common Blvd.
Baton Rouge, LA 70816
or
Oct. 25, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Louisiana Small Business Development Center
616 Harding Boulevard
Baton Rouge, LA 70807
Capital One bank officials and area university business faculty will judge business growth plans at the regional level and select 12 businesses to go on to the competition in both categories at the downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel on Nov. 28, the day before the annual Bayou Classic football game. During that competition, each contender will make an oral presentation in front of a panel of community and business leaders. The cash awards will go to the owners of the businesses whose plans and presentations are judged by the panel to be the most creative, innovative and likely to succeed in growing their business and creating jobs in Louisiana.
To learn more about the competition, or for more information on training times and locations, eligible business owners should contact Capital One Bank by email at BayouClassicBusinessChallenge@capitalone.com.
No purchase is necessary to enter or win. A purchase does not improve your chances of winning.
