CENTRAL NE BUSINESS IDEA CONTEST GIVES AREA ENTREPRENEURS CHANCE AT $1,000 PRIZE

Shawn Kaskie
Center for Rural Research and Development director, 308.865.8135

Anyone at any age with a new business idea has an opportunity to win $1,000 in the Central NE Business Idea Contest, according to Shawn Kaskie, director of the Center for Rural Research and Development at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

“Your business idea does not have to have a fully-thought-out business model, just a description of the product or service, what need it serves, who your customers might be and how you would make it available to those customers,” Kaskie said. “To enter, just record a 60-second video of you pitching your idea, post it on You Tube and paste the URL at http://www.pitchburner.com/unk.”

Further information on where and how to submit the video is available on the CRRD website:www.unk.edu/crrd

“If you don’t have video equipment, you can stop by the CRRD on the UNK campus, and you can film your pitch at our office,” Kaskie said. “We’ll make sure it gets evaluated for a chance to be in the Top 10.” To set up a time to film at the CRRD office, individuals need to call 308.865.8199.

The deadline for videos to be submitted is midnight on Sunday, Nov. 6. All videos submitted by the deadline will be evaluated, and those with the top 10 ideas will be invited to give a 3-5 minute presentation at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at KRave Underground, 2202 Central Ave. in downtown Kearney. KRave Underground is a new club.

“The crowd will select the ‘best’ and will award the $1,000 prize,” Kaskie said, adding that the purpose of the event is to support a culture of entrepreneurship in Central Nebraska.

Event sponsors include Invest Nebraska, the Economic Development Council of Buffalo County and the CRRD. The CRRD is a part of the UNK College of Business and Technology.

More details about the event are available at www.unk.edu/crrd or http://www.pitchburner.com/unk