West Virginia University and the West Virginia Department of Education have received a big boost in their joint quest to develop a high school business plan competition, as the College of Business and Economics (B&E) and the department will receive a grant for development of the competition from the Pittsburgh-based Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

B&E’s BrickStreet Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship will receive $89,000 from the Benedum Foundation to develop the West Virginia High School Business Plan Competition in an effort to encourage and develop entrepreneurial interests in students at a younger age.

“This really is fantastic news because now we can start building the foundation for this high school competition,” said Jose ‘Zito’ Sartarelli, Milan Puskar dean of the College. “It’s going to take a lot of resources and a team effort to develop the competition so that it’s available to high school students across the state.”

Funding for the competition will come in part from a $3 million gift from the BrickStreet Foundation to B&E that was announced in February. The BrickStreet Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Company, based in Charleston, W.Va.

“What a great opportunity for West Virginia students and for the West Virginia Department of Education,” said Kathy D’Antoni, associate state superintendent of schools. “The high school business plan competition provides a wonderful partnership between secondary education and higher education that will provide students not only support for their future endeavors, but the skill sets necessary for success.”

“We want to make the high school business plan competition available to 157 West Virginia high schools and an estimated 37,000 high school juniors and seniors,” Sartarelli said. “It’s going to take resources just to get the infrastructure in place, and that will be the purpose of this generous grant.

“What we have before us is an opportunity to provide a platform for the development of business ideas at a younger age than ever in West Virginia. This competition can actually be the birthplace for ideas that represent economic diversity in our state. We can bolster ideas for new technologies, new companies and new jobs in West Virginia, and that’s exciting.”

The high school business plan competition could launch for the upcoming 2013-14 school year.

The gift was made in conjunction with A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University. The $750 million comprehensive campaign being conducted by the WVU Foundation on behalf of the University runs through December 2015.

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CONTACT: Patrick Gregg, College of Business and Economics
304.293.5131; Patrick.Gregg@mail.wvu.edu

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