Fifty-five entries from 31 communities have advanced to the semi-final round of the 18th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, contest producers announced. Twenty-five of these are located here in our Madison Region!
The contestants were selected from a field of more than 250 qualified first-round entries by an independent panel of almost 80 judges organized through the Wisconsin Technology Council and its programs, the Tech Council Innovation Network and the Tech Council Investor Networks. Semi-finalists are spread among four broad categories: advanced manufacturing, business services, information technology and life sciences.
“Before I joined MadREP, I began serving on the Board of the Wisconsin Technology Council,” explained MadREP President Jason Fields. “The large number of semi-finalists from the Madison Region year after year played a major role in my decision to relocate my life and career here. Now I'm thrilled to be working with both organizations.”
In addition, the plans represent the geographic diversity of Wisconsin, with 36 coming from outside the state’s two largest cities. Eighteen of 55 entrants are women; 13 represent people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
“Trends reflected in the top 55 entries match up well with Wisconsin’s traditional and emerging strengths,” said Greg Lynch, chairman of the Tech Council. “Good ideas come from all high-growth sectors of the economy. In many cases, these ideas reflect innovation born during the challenging times of COVID-19.”
The 55 entries competing in Phase 2 of the contest will write 1,000-word executive summaries. Each summary describes the core product or service, defines the customer base, estimates the size of the market, identifies competition, lists members of the management team, and provides key financial data.
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