Volunteers Wanted!

Youth Entrepreneurs (YE) is on the hunt to identify 106 community volunteers for our 2013 Business Plan Competition. We need you as a volunteer to facilitate the competition for the capstone project that the YE students work on throughout the year. Consider it a tryout for your future role on Shark Tank!


What is it? 

2013 Youth Entrepreneurs Regional Business Plan Competition

Youth Entrepreneurs (YE) students (primarily high school juniors) are currently completing business plans in their yearlong YE course and will present them at the classroom level in early April. Classroom winners and qualified at-large competitors will compete regionally in both a written and oral presentation for their chance at $1,000, $750 or $500 in venture capital funding to apply to their business ideas or higher education. This competition also determines who moves on to The Finals competition.


When is it? 

At Large Written Judging: April 12

Written Judges: Read and score up to 10 business plans on your own between April 17 – May 1. (3-4 hours)

Kansas City Metro Region Oral Presentation: April 22, 8:30 – 3:00, hosted at Kauffman Foundation Conference Center, Kansas City

Topeka Region Oral Presentation: April 23, 8:30 – 3:00, hosted at Westar Energy, Topeka

Wichita Region Oral Presentation: April 24, 8:30 – 3:00, hosted in Wichita 

Southwest Region Oral Presentation: April 25, 8:30 – 3:00, hosted at High Plains Journal, Dodge City

The Finals Oral Presentation: May 30, 8:30 – Noon, hosted in Wichita


What can I expect as a Written Plan Judge?

You’ll be assigned to read 5-6 business to score and read from a web portal. We’ll give you a scoring rubric to track each competitor in the web portal. Scoring categories include Executive Summary, Business Feasibility, SWOT and Financials. The number of competitors varies by the region you judge. Multiple judges will score each plan and an average score will be calculated. The written score is then combined with the oral score to select regional winners.

What can I expect as an Oral Plan Judge?

YE will host 4 separate regional competitions. You’ll be assigned to a room with 3-4 other judges. Regional competitors will have 8 minutes to present their PowerPoint presentation for their completed business plan, followed by 5 minutes for judges to ask questions. We’ll give you a scoring rubric to track each of the competitors. Scoring categories include presentation skills, business feasibility & financial overview. The number of competitors varies by the region you judge. Multiple judges will score each presentation and an average score will be calculated. The oral score is then combined with the written score to select regional winners. Snacks and lunch will be provided during the day.  

Who typically participates?

We typically have a panel of community leaders who volunteers to serve as judges for each regional competition. We try to include a variety of industry professionals such as business analysts, bankers, CPAs, insurance professionals, lawyers and marketers. 

How can I sign up?

If you are interested, please email Jill and she will place you in an open role. After we confirm all of the judges, we will send you a copy of the scoring rubrics outlining how the presentation should be scored.