For the second year in a row, 7th Generation and Upper Mohawk, Inc. have partnered to provide the prizes for the 1st place winners of the Great Plains High School Business Plan Competition. The purpose of the Indian Entrepreneur Business Plan Competition is to foster entrepreneurship in the Great Plains Region by getting high school students to think about creating business opportunities in and around Indian Country in Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The written applications were reviewed and scored on three main components: completeness of the business idea; viability as an ongoing business; and creativity and innovation. The five submissions with the highest scores advanced to the final competition where they were required to make a 10-minute oral business presentation to a panel of judges. They were scored on: communication ability, visual component and overall effectiveness.
The event was held on April 15, 2008 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the 10th Annual Great Plains Tribal Economic Development Summit and our board vice-president, Ron Harp served as one of the judges. He was honored to award two desktop computers including monitors, Microsoft Office software, and printers to the members of the winning team, two young women from Rosebud Reservation. Ron reported that all five entrants they did an excellent job. However, the Rosebud team did such a great job on their plan that the judges expect it to become a reality someday. “Hats off” to them for producing what many companies would be proud to call their business plan.