WDCEP Announces the 1st annual PremierPlan Business Plan Competition Finalists

The Washington, DC Economic Partnership is pleased to announce the five finalists who are one step closer to winning a $100,000 investment, in the PremierPlan Business Plan Competition.

This is the first annual business plan competition on behalf of the District, the goal of which is to encourage entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation within the District of Columbia. The initiative, administered by the Washington, DC Economic Partnership’s BusinessPremier program, is funded by participants in the District of Columbia CAPCO Program and is held in collaboration with the DC Coalition for Capital.

After receiving over 40 initial applications, a panel of 20 judges composed of venture capitalist, business service providers and MBA students from Georgetown University, selected 5 business plans to compete in the final round.

The five finalist are as follows (name of applicant, name of business):

• Philippe Chetrit, Affinity Labs
• Marisol Espinoza, Bilingual Integral Development Center
• Horace Flournoy, Art Vines
• Jennifer Bynoe, Rocksalt
• Walter Royster, Pulse One

On July 8th the selected finalists will conduct an oral presentation before the Finalist Judging Committee describing their concepts and pitching their businesses. After the presentations commence, the winner of the $100,000 investment will be selected. The winning entrepreneur will be introduced and honored at the 2009 BusinessPremier Small Business Awards, held at the Willard Hotel on July 22nd at 9:00am. To register for the 2009 BusinessPremier Small Business Awards please click here.