By Pauline Willeford

Jen Schnidman Medbery, left, and Eric Gallagher (MBA ’12) of Drop the Chalk, a winner in the 2010 Tulane Business Compeition.

‘The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Sunday for applications to the 12th annual Tulane Business Plan Competition, being held by the The Tulane Entrepreneurs’ Association (TEA) on April 13, 2012. Aspiring entrepreneurs from across the globe will compete with the next generation of business leaders.

With a unique focus on Conscious Capitalism, Tulane’s competition challenges entrepreneurs to develop businesses that align all stakeholders’ interests in order to create a truly sustainable business model. TEA will begin accepting business plan summaries on December 1, 2011 through January 22, 2012. Participants simply need one full-time student to enter for a chance to win the $50,000 cash prize.

Local ventures have an added opportunity to win $20,000 in the Domain Companies New Orleans Entrepreneur Challenge that is taking place in conjunction with the Tulane Business Plan Competition. This local competition requires participants to show strong growth potential and the ability to make a positive impact on the New Orleans community. Local teams are encouraged to enter both competitions for a chance to win $70,000.

The Tulane Business Plan Competition is one of the only student run competitions and awards the highest cash prize nationwide. The 2011 competition received 76 submissions from 50 universities across 5 countries. Pathostat, a University of Arizona team developing innovative technology to analyze tumors faster and more accurately, took home the $50,000 cash prize, and New Orleans-based education software company Drop the Chalk won the Domains Companies New Orleans Entrepreneur Challenge.

John Elstrott, Director of the Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship, expressed high expectations for the upcoming competition. “Since the downturn in the economy, more students are pursuing entrepreneurial career paths,” notes Elstrott. “That combined with the Tulane Business Plan Competition’s focus on Conscious Capitalism, businesses making a difference in the world, will surely lead to a high number of quality entries in this year’s competition.”

For up-to-date information about the competition visit http://tulane2012.istart.org/.

This story was reposted from Silcon Bayou News, a content partner of NolaVie.