Business-Plan Competitions
Aspiring young entrepreneurs from Bay Area high schools and community-based organizations present their business plans to an esteemed panel of regional business executives and entrepreneurs as part of the Merrill Lynch/NFTE Bay Area Regional Youth Business Plan Competition. The competition is designed to provide youth from low-income communities with the resources and skill sets to succeed professionally and academically following graduation from high school. The winners of the Merrill Lynch/NFTE Bay Area Regional Youth Business Plan Competition will receive seed capital totaling $4,500.

Throughout March and April, a series of competitions bring together students who have each spent hours learning business concepts, writing business plans, and building companies of their own. The Regional Youth Business Plan Competition & Expo highlights the entrepreneurial talents of the top NFTE students from each Bay Area partner school and community-based organization. Students compete for seed capital by either presenting their business plans or by promoting their businesses in an expo format. Winners of the Competition & Expo advance to the Smith Barney/NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge.

Each year, NFTE is fortunate to have a select group of business, education, and community leaders serve as volunteer judges. Judges play a critical role in the NFTE learning experience, by completing evaluation forms and providing valuable on-the-spot feedback to student competitors.