Rock/Walworth County FastPitch Competition

(Rock County, WI) – Rock County 5.0, in collaboration with various regional economic and workforce development partners, announced that it is cosponsor a business idea contest. The Rock/Walworth County FastPitch Competition, which is designed to provide an incubation platform for emerging entrepreneurial and small business ideas, will be held at BTC’s Central Campus on August 8, 2012. Contestants will compete for prizes valued up to $5,000.

This competition will feature two contestant tracks: one designated for students (i.e. high school and college) and another for non-students. Similar to the reality TV show Shark Tank, contestants will have three minutes to verbally pitch their business concept or idea to a panel of judges. The judges will evaluate and score the pitches based upon the contestants’ ability to answer the following questions:

• What is your product/service and why would the business or consumer market need it?
• What or who is your target market?
• What is the business model and how do you expect to make money from this concept or idea?
• Who is your competition and what separates your product/service from them?
• What is your competitive advantage or unique selling position?
• Who is providing support for this concept or idea and what do you need to take it to the next level?

Once the scores have been tallied, a finalist slate will be selected and then these individuals will compete during the second half of the event for the opportunity to cash in on a prize package valued at $5,000. To facilitate networking, a vendor fair featuring regional entrepreneurial / small business providers and a keynote speaker presentation are planned. There is no fee to compete, display at the vendor fair or to attend the event. The public is welcome to attend the final pitch round, the keynote presentation and the vendor fair. Additional information, including registration details, is available online.

Rock County 5.0 is a five-year public / private economic development initiative designed to reposition and revitalize Rock County’s economy. The initiative’s efforts are focused on the following five economic development strategies: Business Retention & Expansion, Business & Investment Attraction, Small Business & Entrepreneurship, Real Estate Positioning and Workforce Profiling. For additional Rock County 5.0 information, visit www.rockcounty5.com .