The Challenge is a $25,000 cash prize business plan competition to identify, encourage, and reward excellence in entrepreneurship in the St. Louis Metro East region (now including Fayette and Montgomery Counties). For the 8th year, Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois and SIUE School of Business are the competition's cornerstone sponsors. 2021's Networking Event Sponsor is Scott Credit Union who is hosting this year's Mentor-Semifinalist Networking Event. The SIUE School of Business and Illinois Small Business Development Center for the Metro East at SIUE (SBDC) are facilitating the competition.
The purpose of the challenge is to:
The first place winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize accompanied by an array of in-kind professional services.
Second, Third, and Fourth Place winners will receive a $6,000 cash prize, $4,000 cash prize, and a $2,000 cash prize, respectively, along with many in-kind professional services
For 2021, two new prize categories(worth $1,500 each) are being added and offered: Rural Business and Woman,Minority or Veteran of the Year.
To qualify as a Rural business, the entity must be located in and meet the USDA definition of Rural: population of less than 50,000 and the contiguous area around the urban area. Woman, Minority or Veteran must possess at least 51% ownership in the company
If you are interested in sponsoring and/or providing in-kind services for The Metro East Startup Challenge, please click here to learn more!