Join the South Dakota Giant Vision Awards 2009! This is a good opportunity for those students who have great business plans but don’t have the finances to start the business off. According to Hon. Mike Rounds, the Governor of South Dakota:

southdakotaGiantVisionThe Giant Vision Awards is a business plan competition sponsored by the State of South Dakota and the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry that will connect students with valuable resources for starting a business.

When doing business in South Dakota, the student will pay no corporate or personal income tax, no business inventory tax, no personal property tax, and no inheritance tax. The student keeps the profit.

According to the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry:

The Governor’s Giant Vision Student Competition will give you the opportunity to present your ideas, write a business plan and make a formal presentation. A panel of business experts will review all entries and select eight qualifiers who will attend the final competition Tuesday, April 7, 2010 in Pierre. Qualifiers will give presentations and discuss their ideas with seasoned business and financial experts and other invitees.

The winner will be awarded $3,500, with a second place prize being $3,000, third place $2,500 and fourth place $2,000, plus an EPSCoR match of $2,000*. The remaining qualifiers will receive $500 each and be eligible for an EPSCoR match of $2,000, if they provide $2,000 in matching funds. Selection of winners will be based on a combination of the viability of the business proposal, including considerations of potential competition, likelihood of success, market size and profitability.

I visited the website and the requirements of what to submit and the application form are still not available online.

However, it is mentioned that online entries must be finalized and submitted no later than midnight (CST), Monday, February 15, 2010.

Video about the Giant Vision Awards 2009: Giant Vision Awards finalist Kyle Mulder explains how he came up with his business idea and how the Giant Vision Awards helped him with starting his business.


This is a very good opportunity for SD students!