Merage School Business Plan Competition

Orange County is one of the nation's fastest growing and most innovative business regions. To encourage increased development of forward-thinking, entrepreneurial talent, the UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business has created a business plan competition in cooperation with the county's business community.

Direct involvement by area business leaders is an integral part of the competition. In addition to recruiting executives to serve as judges, we ask about two dozen business leaders to serve as advisors to assist each team with developing their plan. Advisors meet periodically with their teams over a period of several months.

The competition is designed to be a catalyst for creating a culture of innovators and risk-takers by giving students hands-on experience working side-by-side with successful entrepreneurs. The competition is an annual event and a cornerstone of the Paul Merage School of Business' Don Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Competition sponsors will benefit from public recognition of their support, as well as the opportunity to learn first-hand about new and creative business ideas generated by the students.

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