Overview

With one of the largest cash prize pools in America, the Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup graduate & undergraduate business plan competition is designed to encourage students of Arkansas's universities and colleges to act on their ideas and talents in order to produce tomorrow's businesses. 987 students representing 19 Arkansas colleges and universities have participated and over the past seven years $658,000 of cash has been awarded to student teams and their faculty advisors.

Students involved in the competition gain access to networks of successful entrepreneurs, lenders and investors, teambuilding opportunities, business planning skills, and media exposure.

"I feel that the competition helped me gain a firm understanding of how to create a business plan. I also learned a great deal on what it takes to start a business. The competition was quite helpful in nurturing my entrepreneurial desires by showing me the framework for establishing my own business, as well as the confidence to actually do it."
-Brendan Monaghan, student, Hendrix

"Business leaders from Arkansas judged our plans, critically analyzed the gaps in the plan, and gave us professional advice on how we could improve it. This type of exposure is something most students will never get."
-Matt Tice, student, John Brown University

"I believe the Governor's Cup has the potential to make a huge difference in Arkansas."
-Carol Reeves, Ph.D., Professor of Management, University of Arkansas

"Being in this competition has given me great confidence. Standing up in front of the judges who are asking all kinds of questions about your business is a rewarding experience."
-Siddarth Kak, MBA student, University of Arkansas

One of the goals of the competition is to encourage the development and commercialization of ideas and technologies being discovered in our universities. Multi-disciplinary teams that combine members from technical disciplines with members from the Colleges of Business are encouraged. Multi-disciplinary teams bring together the pieces necessary for bridging the gap between technology and the marketplace.

History of the Competition

With a vision for promoting entrepreneurship, Arkansas Capital Corporation conceived the idea for a statewide business plan competition. This vision was about creating a first-class competition; one that would send a message to students that the resources to succeed in business can be found right here in Arkansas.

In 2004, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation made a major grant to the competition, while providing the funds to establish sister statewide business plan competitions in Oklahoma and Nevada. With the foundation's gift, the competition was named after the late media entrepreneur for whom the foundation is also named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States.

The Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation, an affiliate company of the Arkansas Capital Corporation Group, manages the competition. The Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation is dedicated to the refinement and expansion process of the competition.