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| Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 11 No. 6 -Geographics |
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Fresh Ideas
Dumaguete’s Innovation Awards becomes a venue for new and bright ideas for business ventures
By Veneeth Iyengar and Danah Fortunato
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The city at night |
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he provincial government-funded “Negros Oriental Innovation Awards” is an excellent example of academe-business-government partnership. The business plan competition aims to encourage the academe and its students, faculty, staff, or anyone with the talent and energy to come up with innovative ideas that can be launched as businesses and create networks for entrepreneurs in the province.
Patterned after the MIT’s 50K and Purdue University’s Business Plan competitions, Department of Trade and Industry Provincial Director Javier Fortunato, Jr. and US Peace Corps Volunteer Veneeth Iyengar came up with the Innovation Awards (IA) to stimulate and support the founding of innovative companies in the areas of agriculture, health, environment, science, and information technology.
The IA was set up to try and stem the brain drain from the province; nurture home-grown technology-based, science-oriented businesses; use local funding to look for solutions to local problems; and, encourage entrepreneurship and creativity among students and other individuals. That the IA generated some publicity for the province of Negros Oriental was a welcome bonus. Currently, the organizing committee is exploring talks with several entities in Manila on establishing tie-ups and working relationships to increase the amount of the prizes, to improve the way it is run, and to make this an annual event.
The transport of live fish without water, a revolutionary idea of Bonifacio Commandante – a marine sciences graduate student of Silliman University – received the top award of P50,000 at the recently concluded Innovation Awards. Local investors have also put in P5 million to start his business. Named Buhi Marine Worldwide Supply Inc., the business manufactures the anti-stress salts that make it possible for the water-less transport of fish. Buhi is the Visayan word for ‘live’. Today, this Dumaguete City-based business has benefited dozens of fishermen and local government units in the province.
During the conduct of the IA, participants were given free workshops with the help of the universities to help refine their concept papers and business plans. A series of seminars on Business Plan preparation, Pricing and Costing, Marketing, Financing, and Business Operations were conducted to help them. A group of mentors from different disciplines also volunteered assistance.
For inquiries on the projects and on the competition, please contact
the organizers at iyengarv@yahoo.com or dtinegor@cvpc.edu.ph
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