NMC hosts biz concept competition finals

In an effort to generate new business ideas that could encourage economic growth in the CNMI, the Northern Marianas College’s Business Department and Small Business Development Center have been conducting an exciting business concept competition that awards substantial cash prizes to the top five teams with the best business ideas for the CNMI.

Fourteen teams comprising students studying business at NMC on Saipan and Tinian submitted their written business concept papers for judging on April 29. Of the original 14 teams, five finalist teams were selected to present their business concepts to a panel of three judges from the local banking industry.

The presentations will be made tonight, May 17, from 7pm to 9pm in NMC’s room D-1, across the NMC Bookstore.

The public is encouraged to attend this free event so that the community can show its support to these students who have worked so hard to develop their business ideas.

The first place team will win $1,500; second place, $1,000; third place, $500; and the two remaining teams will each win a consolation prize of $250 per team.

The three judges that will be evaluating the presentations and choosing the winners are Oscar Camacho, loan manager for the Commonwealth Development Authority; Lee Francia, chief lending officer for Bank of Saipan; and Vicente “Ben” Agulto, loan officer for Bank of Guam.

The five finalist teams are “Mall Pacifica” composed of team members Kevin Camacho, Hong Jing Zhang, Leilani Atalig, Schneider Lanzo and Tyrone Celis; “Chapters Bookstore” composed of team members Tracy Lynn Manglona, Renee Celis, Adeline Tereyama, Yuan Yuan Chen, and Joseph Calimim; “Sound’s Production Company” composed of team members Alfonis Sound, Norma Sochai, Shen Xuan, Sum Po and Andrew Fojas; “Tropical Attitude Magazine” composed of team members Shen Xuan and Lu Yi; and “Shera Women’s Fitness” composed of team members Frankie Eliptico, Rutha Mizutani, Manuela Aldan and Sheena Cruz.

The winners of the competition will then be announced and provided cash prizes at the NMC student banquet at the Pacific Island Club this Friday evening, May 20. All of the five finalist team members will be provided a free ticket for themselves and one guest to attend the dinner banquet at the PIC.

The competition was designed to achieve four objectives: promote economic development in the CNMI by stimulating viable business ideas; encourage business community mentors to serve as a resource for NMC students pursuing entrepreneurial interests; provide NMC students with hands-on professional experience through which classroom concepts and theories can be applied and tested; and enhance general understanding of the importance of entrepreneurship to the CNMI economy.

“We are extremely proud of the members of all 14 teams that entered the competition. Even though the judges have the task of selecting the three winning teams and two honorable mentions, all the teams had great ideas and they put a lot of thought and effort into their business ideas,” said D. Rik Villegas, a business instructor at NMC and NMC’s Business Concept Competition founder.

Competitions like this can be found on Guam, Hawaii, and many universities in the United States. Some of them are very popular and the entrants often implement their ideas and plans to start successful businesses. It also allows budding entrepreneurs to gain valuable feedback and attract possible investors.

Some of the rules and guidelines for the competition were that each team must have at least two, but nor more than five members on it, and at least one of the team members is a currently enrolled NMC student. Each team was encouraged to have a mentor who is a businesses owner or manager in the community. The role of the mentor is to provide advice to improve the concept and encouragement to develop the idea. In addition, in order to be an acceptable business concept, the concept had to be legal; a for-profit business venture; and a business that could be implemented in the CNMI.

It is hoped that this business concept competition will become an annual event that will stimulate many new business ideas in the CNMI. Even more desirable is that many of those ideas will move from the planning stage to being fully implemented and providing a good income for its owners and jobs for employees.

NMC encourages the community to show its support for these student teams by attending the finalist presentations tonight. Admission is free! If you have any questions about the competition, contact Eric Plinske at the NMC Small Business Development Center at 235-1551.