NYCEDC: Competition THRIVE Empowering and Rewarding New York City’s Immigrant Entrepreneurs

Enter Competition THRIVE – it’s a unique competition seeking original, innovative strategies and programs that help immigrant entrepreneurs succeed in business. Your submission could be a winner.

About the Competition:

As part of New York City’s efforts to support growth and job creation in immigrant communities, Competition THRIVE seeks to develop innovative strategies and programs that help immigrant entrepreneurs succeed in business.

NYCEDC, in consultation with the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation and the Garfield Foundation, has partnered with the Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship at Baruch College to operate Competition THRIVE. The competition is designed to address the challenges faced by the City’s immigrant entrepreneurs, which commonly include access to credit, financial management, language barriers, and access to business networks. Organizations submit proposals for programs to address these challenges which are reviewed by a panel of judges comprised of business and non-profit leaders, representatives from New York City agencies and academics. Proposals will be judged on several criteria including, but not limited to: innovation, feasibility, applicability, scalability, and sustainability.

The judges will select five finalists to develop their proposals. Each of the five finalists will be awarded seed funding of $25,000 to pilot their program for six months and create a business plan. After the six month pilot period, one grand prize winner will be selected to receive funding of $100,000 and promotional services to further scale their program.

Eligibility

Competition THRIVE invites proposals that facilitate entrepreneurial business activity and/or serve immigrant communities including, but not limited to submissions from:

• For-profit entities and individuals
• Non-profit organizations
• Banks
• Trade or business organizations
• Educational institutions

Registration:

Don’t miss out on this opportunity! Registration and submission period to enter the competition opens February 7, 2013 and closes March 7, 2013. Additional details and forms can be found here.

For more information or questions please email competitionthrive@baruch.cuny.edu.