Featured News 

2022 HCC Business Plan Competition

Season Opens

2022 HCC Business Plan Competition 

Application Period Opens January 7

Prepare Now to Apply

The annual HCC Business Plan Competition is for Proposed, Startup and Existing Entrepreneurs. All accepted contestant teams get free training and advising late February through May to refine and polish their plans to start and/or grow their business.  The top five teams win prize money!  All graduating teams feel like winners because they all come out with the greatest value, a stronger written plan, slide deck and video to pursue their business goals and to seek funding. 

Are you ready to apply?  

Proposed and Startup* Entrepreneurs - Steps to Apply  

1) Complete One Prequalifying Class or Program and 

2) Attend the Financial Webinar/Workshop

3) Apply in January

Have you completed ONE of these Prequalifying Classes or Programs?

• HCC Creating a Successful Business Plan Online Continuing Education Class - Still Available! - Quick Sign Up. It takes just three minutes to sign up and takes about 24 hours of your time! Scroll down for More and to Sign Up.
• Small Business Success Series by HCC^©  
• Small Business Management - College Credit Class at HCC
• Entrepreneurship and Economic Development - College Credit Class at HCC
• Liftoff Houston Startup Competition
• Houston Area Urban League Small Business University
• University of Houston SURE Program

If you still need the class/program scroll down to sign up for the self-paced class.  

If you still need the financial workshop/webinar sign up for one of the January financial webinars. Then submit a strong application January 7-28. Have you completed the above already? Then take a sneak peak at Application questions and get started on your answers before the Application period opens! 

* You are considered to be a Startup Entrepreneur for the purposes of our competition if you have not yet achieved six continuous months of net profit prior to or during the pandemic.

Existing Entrepreneurs - Steps to Apply

1) Financial Webinar/Workshop - Sign Up Now for a January Virtual Webinar & attend it.

2) Apply

All Applicants Should Submit a Strong Application between January 7 - January 28

Ready to start working on your application? Our Competition Website gives you a sneak peak at the application's business concept questions, if you'd like to start working up your answers!  

www.hccs.edu/businessplancompetition

Featured January Events

2022 HCC Business Plan Competition

Launch Party - Reception, Showcase & Orientation

Join us on Zoom Thursday, January 6, 2022, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Who is invited?  

Proposed, startup and existing entrepreneurs who are interested in applying for the 2022 HCC Business Plan Competition; competition leaders, trainers, sponsors, judges, advisors, community supporters and past HCC BPC winners, finalists and graduates!  

Come join us to mix, mingle and learn more from all parties involved! Meet past competition graduates, winners, our ecosystem partners, and competition leaders, trainers and advisors signing on for the 2022 HCC BPC Advisor Cohort.  

• 5:00 - 6:00 pm - Reception & Showcase.
• 6:00 - 7:00 pm - Orientation for interested competition applicants.

It's a celebration of all involved to showcase our past competition alumni and introduce all who make this outstanding competition possible. 

Welcome to those applying and to those considering applying for the 2022 HCC BPC during the January 7-28 Application period! This optional but awesome gathering is a great way to start the year and connect with our competition and entrepreneurial community! 

 For More & To RSVP Now

Turn your business ideas into a solid plan for financing and long-term success. Committing your idea to paper in the form of a business plan not only increases your chances of obtaining financing, but also in keeping your business strategically focused. 

You will work through all the major components of writing a business plan and emerge with your first draft in hand. And most importantly, you will have completed the first-and most difficult-step on the path to small business success.

If you are a proposed or startup entrepreneur, this class prepares you to apply for the Spring 2021 HCC Business Plan Competition (BPC)!  

How it works: Complete 12 online lessons (each about 1.5 - 2 hours) with quizzes to advance to next lesson. At the end of the 12 lessons, take the multiple choice test to complete the class. (Hint - Save your quizzes; they prepare you very well for the final). The whole class takes about 15-24 hours of your time. 

Easy Enrollment - Takes just three minutes to register for the class!  

Choose Self-Paced Class if you are taking it to apply for the 2021 HCC BPC!

Self-Paced - Sign up any day any time!  Our Continuing Education department gives you three months from the date you sign up to finish the class. However, for those taking the class as a prerequisite to apply for the 2022 HCC Business Plan Competition ("Competition"), we recommend that you finish the class by the Competition's Application Deadline of January 28 or by no later than February 14.   

Click below for more info on each lesson and to sign up for the class!  

Register Now 

For proposed, startup and existing business owners. A two-and-a-half hour webinar that sets you up for success. Know your numbers and plan right for 2022!

Thinking of applying for the 2022 HCC Business Plan Competition? This webinar prepares you to go for it!

Featured Topics:

• Understanding the Primary Purpose of your Business
• How to Generate Revenue from your Business Idea
• Understanding concepts such as Burn-rate, Breakeven, and Cash-Flow
• Determining Cash Needs of Business
• Financing Cash Needs
• Financial Record Keeping



Funding Panel - Hear from, and ask questions of a panel of our financial resource partners from Houston's entrepreneurial eco-system.

Event Fee: Free to all entrepreneurs 

Choose One of the Following Financial Webinar Dates and Register Now: 

Thursday, January 13, 2022, 2:00pm - 4:30pm

Saturday, January 22, 2022, 9:30am - 12:30pm

Saturday, January 29, 2022, 9:30am - 12:30pm

Janice Jucker - Three Brothers Bakery

Video Update

Janice Jucker

President and Co-Owner

Three Brothers Bakery

HCC Business Plan Competition

Winner - 2015, Past Advisor, 2022 Sponsor

Three Brothers Bakery is an award winning, full-service bakery located in Houston, Texas committed to providing the highest level of service and creating delicious baked goods.

Janice Jucker and her team (including husband Bobby Jucker and CFO, Thomas Baker) won our competition in 2015. Janice said "The HCC Business Plan Competition is the gift that keeps on giving." Her whole team learned more about: financial management & forecasting; how to up their game in marketing; and how to create a strong plan that they continue to update regularly and implement.

The pitch training and experience also helped her with lenders and landlords over the years as they have grown, faced floods and the pandemic. Janice says "We call ourselves the king & queen of disaster and we don't want to be dethroned by one." She's become an expert at pivoting, which has become more necessary for all Houston entrepreneurs! Hear More - Click here for Janice's Brief Video Interview on Up to the Minute with HCCTV host Todd Duplantis.

HCC thanks Janice for her past in-kind sponsorship and serving as a past competition advisor (her team made it to the 2020 finals - Congrats Christa Clarke and Cubicles to Cocktails!). Three Brothers Bakery is also an in-kind and BPC Circle Alumni Sponsor for 2022. If all goes well and we go back to onsite awards in 2022, we will be eating Three Brothers Bakery cake at the awards ceremony in June!

For More and to Order: https://3brothersbakery.com

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO INTERVIEW - JANICE JUCKER on HCCTV - Up To The Minute with Host Todd Duplantis

Kim Roxie Receives Joe Biden's Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award

Kim Roxie

Founder and CEO

LAMIK Beauty

HCC Business Plan Competition, Alumni, 2014



Lamik Beauty is a makeup line for women of color made with vegan, natural and organic ingredients.

The President's Lifetime Achievement Award is for those who contribute more than 4,000 hours of service in their lifetime.

"Everyone's journey is different, most of the time is not linear...and, without a doubt, I wasn't the exception. From expelled from high school to receiving the Joe Biden Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. GOD I Thank you!"

"This is a tremendous honor. My parents raised me to live a life of service and this Award is dedicated to Charles & Big Loretta." Kim Roxie

HCC congratulates Kim! We are proud to be a part of your journey!

Congratulations to Pinnacle Award Finalist and Winners!

The Greater Houston Black Chamber (GHBC) Pinnacle Award recognizes leading African American entrepreneurs for their success in business and their positive impact on the communities and industries they serve.

On October 23, GHBC held it's 27th Annual Pinnacle Awards event, where they celebrated several of the best and burgeoning Black-owned businesses in the Greater Houston area.

HCC is proud to announce the following Alumni of our programs were recognized as finalist and winners this year!

Pinnacle Award Finalist:

Alexia McClerkin

Owner/Chiropractor

The Sports and Wellness Doc

Small Business Success Series by HCC, Alumni, Cohort 5, 2021

Pinnacle Award Winner:

Derrell Noris

Owner and CEO

Fresh Tech Solutionz

HCC Business Plan Competition, Alumni, 2019

Pinnacle Award Winner:

Lyndsey Brantley

CEO

Camellia Alise

HCC Business Plan Competition Winner,

1st Place, 2019

Sponsor Spotlight - Lending Awards Announced at HAGGL Ceremony

Congratulations Wallis Bank, LiftFund, Allegiance Bank, Capital CDC and Wells Fargo

HCC is honored and proud to have these outstanding lenders support our programs and entrepreneurs

The Houston Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders (HAGGL) announced lending awards at their annual Holiday Luncheon and the light shined bright on our sponsors! We congratulate the following lenders:

Wallis Bank

• 7a SBA HDO - 7a Exemplary Local Economic Boost Award
• 7a SBA HDO - Exemplary Small Businesses Helped Award
• SBA Director's Impact Award

LiftFund

• Microlender SBA HDO - Exemplary Local Economic Boost

Allegiance Bank

• Houston SBDC - #1 Lending Partner
• Capital CDC - Top SBA Lending Partner - Houston Region

Capital CDC

• 504 SBA HDO - Exemplary Local Economic Boost Award
• 504 SBA HDO - Small Businesses Helped Award

Wells Fargo

• 7a SBA HDO - Small Businesses Helped Award

Our Glenda & David Regenbaum Center for Entrepreneurship at HCC NW thanks all of the executives and staff at these lenders who have worked with us over the years to give back through sponsorships, advising to our entrepreneurs and participation in our programs.

L to R: Harry Leach, Capital CDC, Sandra Louvier, HCC,

Gary Henderson, Allegiance Bank and Nasr Khan, Wallis Bank.

Special Thanks to These Lending Champions:

Wallis Bank - Asif Dakri, Nasr Khan & Gary Owens; LiftFund - Michi Clay, Richard Gianni, Jennifer Dale-Flores & Linda Toyota; Allegiance Bank - Steve Retzloff & Gary Henderson; Capital CDC - Harry Leach; and Wells Fargo - Tyler Smith, Arcy Munoz, Binh To & Gideon Lake.

HCC thanks Wallis Bank, LiftFund, Allegiance Bank and Capital CDC for supporting our HCC Business Plan Competition. We thank Wells Fargo for supporting our Small Business Success Series by HCC^© and and our new Open for Business Grant.

While the obstacles we all face are challenging, we look forward to facing them together with you in 2022 and beyond to empower entrepreneurs and make a positive impact together throughout Houston!

Thank You Again to our

2021 HCC Business Plan Competition Sponsors

More About Each 2021 Competition Sponsor

ANNOUNCING 2022 SPONSORS IN THE SPRING! 

More News From

Update Snapshot - Our Success is Your Success!

Glenda & David Regenbaum Center for Entrepreneurship

We are still honored to relay the success of our first full academic year with our new name, thanks to Glenda and David Regenbaum and their generous $100,000 endowment of our Center at HCC Northwest. Thank you again David for dedicating your time and experience to help us develop and grow our programs.  

Thanks to Dr. Zachary Hodges, President, HCC Northwest for starting entrepreneurship at HCC and remaining one of our strongest leaders and ongoing champions! Thanks to the HCC Northwest Leadership Team and all staff and faculty supporting our offerings and spreading an entrepreneurial mindset to and through our community.  

Thanks to Dr. Kurt Ewen, Chief of Staff and Vice Chancellor of Strategy, Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, HCC District, for leading and empowering us to strategically plan and grow entrepreneurial offerings across the HCC System. You help drive our growing contribution to creating greater economic opportunity and equity for talented, diverse and motivated aspiring and existing entrepreneurs across Houston.

Thanks to Dr. Maya Durnovo, Chief Entrepreneurial Officer, HCC, for being there from the start to launch our center and for supporting and growing entrepreneurship over the years throughout the HCC system. With 14 signature programs in all now, our national award for 2020 Entrepreneurial College of the Year from NACCE and our new Open for Business grant, we are looking forward to more great accomplishments together with all of our internal and external partners. 

• 2020-2021 Fiscal Year – Our success comes from three primary signature programs: three cohorts graduated from the Small Business Success Series by HCC^© ; our 14^th Annual HCC Business Plan Competition; and the roll out of the HCC Mattress Mack School of Selling:  
• Fall 2020 - 33 events with 1,163 in attendance.
• Spring-Summer 2021 - 47 events with 4,134 in attendance. 
• HCC Business Plan Competition – A series of 13 events from January through June – Awarded $26,000 in prize money to the top five teams, and in-kind prizes valued at $ 43,700 to 24 graduating teams.  
• Small Business Success Series by HCC^© - We graduated Cohorts 2, 3 & 4 in F2020/21 and moved swiftly to collaborate and deliver more in Fall 2021.
• HCC Mattress Mack School of Selling^© - Rolled out this new 6-session series, delivered twice with total attendance of 1,209 in March and 1,178 in August. 
• Total Attendance - Fiscal YE 2020-2021: 80 events 5,300.
• The above includes our three signature programs and other small business events, such as our Digital Marketing Clinics with Beth Guide.
• Since 2016, our Glenda & David Regenbaum Center for Entrepreneurship has delivered entrepreneurial training events attracting 12,750 attendees in collaboration with 30 strategic partners

• FALL/WINTER 2021 UPDATE – We have been preparing January events for the HCC Business Plan Competition; graduated another three cohorts of the Small Business Success Series by HCC^© and plans are underway with Jim McIngvale to announce a Spring Schedule for the HCC Mattress Mack School of Selling^©  
• The HCC Business Plan Competition is going into it's 15th year! Profound thanks to our original partners at Newspring for the legacy you've helped us create and carry forward. Director, Sandra Louvier has been involved in the competition for the last 12 years. Since then, 271 teams (571 contestants) have graduated from the competition. We have raised and awarded: $312,000 in seed money to 60 finalist teams; and in-kind prizes valued at $169,000 and $171,000 in membership discounts to 271 graduating teams. Volunteer hours for 12 years, contributed from competition leaders, trainers and 50-60 advisors annually are valued at $2.275 million. In total, over 12 years, the HCC Business Plan Competition has delivered an estimated impact to Houston entrepreneurs of $2.9 million.  
• Small Business Success Series by HCC^© - This Fall, we graduated Cohorts 5, 6 & 7. Congratulations to our graduates! Our Digital Cohort 5 graduated in October. Our onsite Cohort 6 was held at University of St. Thomas, thanks to a collaboration between Dr. Patrick Woock and David Rebgenbaum. We were also honored for Cohort 7 to be the inaugural offering in HCC's new Open for Business Grant sponsored by Wells Fargo. Kuddos to our facilitators and delivery team, the HCC Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives team, and to the new Open for Business grant team; Tamala Austin, Carola Medina and Karen Sharp, who joined HCC this fall and moved at warp speed to graduate Cohort 7 on December 9th! A schedule for the next cohorts will be announced soon.
• HCC Mattress Mack School of Selling^© - We have planning meetings underway for an open access digital offering in March 2022 for this 6-session series, like the ones we offered in 2021. We are also planning a smaller application-based cohort with an April, 2022 start date to be held onsite at Gallery Furniture for applicants pursing a career in sales. More news on this soon!

• Star Staff - Special thanks yet again to Sabiha Dholkawala and Flora Renteria who joined our team last year during the pandemic and hit the ground running! You are entrepreneurial, open-minded and have an outstanding ability to pivot, develop and implement solutions and come to work ready to have fun, deliver results and shine!
• Star Facilitators, Entrepreneurs in Residence and Volunteer Advisors & Alumni: Special Thanks to: David Regenbaum, Austin Tenette, Ned Mueller, Kimberly Penn, Dr. Kimberly Burroughs, Thea Goldin Smith, Nanette Ray, Rebecca Schultz, Ashely Small, Leeanne Aguilar, Beth Guide and all the volunteer advisors, alumni and panelists who support our programs and give invaluable advising and training to our proposed, startup and existing entrepreneurs!  
• Special Thanks to our Sponsors and Partners: We have more than 30 in all and you’ll see them mentioned throughout the year in our newsletters. Special thanks to our recurring sponsors Wells Fargo Bank, Wallis Bank, LiftFund, Allegiance Bank, Tehrani and Associates, LLC, our Business Plan Competition Alumni Circle Sponsors and our internal and external entrepreneurial eco-system partners such as the SBA Houston District, SCORE Houston, City of Houston-Mayor’s Office of Business Opportunity, local management districts and chambers and so many others…. Our success is your success!

HCC is closed for Winter Break from December 20, returning, January 3, 2022. It has been a challenging and difficult year and our hearts go out to those of us who are suffering from loss or sickness. While we cannot predict what is to come in 2022, it has been our experience that we are better facing it together to provide and tap into, ongoing opportunity, training, resources, hope and inspiration for each of us to overcome our obstacles and make a positive difference in our community. Best wishes for a safe, peaceful and joyful close to this holiday season and year.

From all of us, to all of you!

Sandra, David and the c4e Team

About the Glenda & David Regenbaum Center for Entrepreneurship

HCC Northwest

OUR MISSION: To help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. We do this by offering workshops, seminars, summits, classes and competitive training and advising, while also providing practical knowledge, resources and connections.



Contact us at c4e@hccs.edu or 713-718-6650

Houston Community College 

2020 Entrepreneurial College of the Year

October. 6, 2020: The Houston Community College System was selected as the winner of the 2020 Entrepreneurial College of the Year award by the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) at NACCE's annual conference, where entrepreneurial colleges from across the U.S. gather to share best practices. On behalf of all of our entrepreneurial programs and staff, we thank all of the entrepreneurs, partners, sponsors, volunteers, students, and HCC faculty and staff who have contributed to our efforts! Without your support and dedication to our programs, this wouldn't have been possible!

Houston Community College Receives 2021 Diversity In Business Award from the Houston Business Journal!

Congratulations to all students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs (aspiring & existing); and to all our community participants, supporters, volunteers, partners and sponsors who collaborate with us to make awards like this possible! Congratulations also to all of the other honorees and awardees! 

#WeAreHCC # HoustonStrong #HBJDiversity