They might not have the glamour of the "Ocean’s Twelve" cast.

But the 12 finalists in this year’s Governor’s Cup competition can sure put together a mean business plan.

A quick look at the final teams in the 2010 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition reveals a geek squad that would put Best Buy’s bunch to shame.

Forget scanning your computer for malware. Most of these teams are tackling heavier stuff like nanotechnology, recycled silicon and generating renewable energy from an array of waste materials.

Dave Archer, chief executive officer of Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, described this year’s crop of finalists as one of the most promising he’s seen in six years of competition.

"I’ve spent most of my life in the corporate world, and I’ve seen a lot of business plans," Archer said. "The creativity and professionalism I’ve seen in the finalists’ business plans this year is as good or even better than what I saw in the corporate world. It’s even more amazing when you think that these finalists are all graduate or undergraduate students."

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University and college students from across Nevada are being encouraged to pursue entrepreneurship as a career option as the Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NCET) hosts its sixth annual Governor’s Cup competition.

Teams of both graduate and undergraduate students are asked to submit their best business plan, outlining how they would move Nevada business into the future. The payoff? A $20,000 prize for first place, $10,000 for second place and $5,000 for third place.

First and second place winners also move on to compete in a regional competition with students from Oklahoma and Arkansas.

“We see an interesting range of plans,” said Dave Archer, CEO of NCET. “They range from a million-dollar fuel facility to a pizza parlor. All of them have been phenomenal. … The written business plans, they are as good as anything that I have seen in the corporate world.”

With 35 years in the business development industry, Archer spent 17 years at Viacom, initially at Viacom Cable, where he introduced numerous new products and services including Pay-Per-View, home-shopping and commercial telecommunication services. However, he will not be judging the students’ final business plans. On Wednesday, the 12 teams will each give a 20-minute pitch to a panel of Nevada’s business leaders, followed by a 20-minute question-and-answer session.

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Ben Casnocha is the keynote speaker at the 6th annual Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition Awards Dinner and Gala on Thursday, April 22.  The dinner is open to the public and everyone is welcome to attend.

Casnocha is the author of the bestselling business book “My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley,” which the New York Times hailed as “precocious, informative and entertaining.” Casnocha’s entrepreneurial nature became evident when he was 14-years-old and founded Comcate, Inc., an e-government software company.

His work has been featured in dozens of international media including CNN, USA Today, CNBC and ABC’s 20/20, and he is also a frequent a commentator for public radio’s “Marketplace” show. At a recent conference in Paris, PoliticsOnline named Casnocha as one of the “25 most influential people in the world of internet and politics,” and BusinessWeek recently named him as “one of America’s top young entrepreneurs.”

Casnocha writes prolifically on his blog (ben.casnocha.com), which the San Jose Business Journal  called one of the “Top 25 Blogs in Silicon Valley.” Casnocha has given speeches at dozens of universities and organizations around the world and has traveled to more than 25 countries. He also co-runs the Silicon Valley Junto, an intellectual discussion society for business and technology executives.

VIP Reception > 5:00 pm
Cocktails > 5:30 PM
Dinner and Awards > 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Individual Tickets > $100, Tables of 8 > $750

Purchase tickets and tables here

Sponsorships Available

For more information, please visit www.GovCupNevada.com or contact Emily at Emily@NCET.org or (775)-853-4226 / (702) 944-9722

Christopher H. Wheeler, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said, “Human capital is now commonly held to be one of the fundamental drivers of economic growth.”

As Wheeler also points out, there is a fair amount of empirical evidence that supports that skills possessed by an economy’s work force promote technological advancement and productivity growth. In particular, there is a strong statistical association between human capital (usually captured by educational attainment) and the growth of employment, productivity and income.

According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Student Survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, salary and job location are the two factors that determine whether a student accepts a job. The job’s proximity to Mom and Dad is what counts most to students in terms of location.

Over the past five years, an average of 80 percent of undergraduates enrolled at the University of Nevada, Reno have been Nevada residents, with almost 60 percent coming from Washoe County. This means Northern Nevada, with the help of the university, should have the educated work force needed to attract and retain new business.

However, with Nevada’s unemployment at 13.2 percent, and Washoe County’s at 13.4 percent, our upcoming graduates will need to look for more creative ways to make a living in Northern Nevada if we are to avoid the impending “brain drain” that could occur if they have to leave the area to find work elsewhere.

This brings us to a shift beginning to occur in education. In the past, business colleges taught students how to go to work for others. Today, there is a movement toward more entrepreneurial activity. For example, Nevada’s College of Business offers a minor in entrepreneurship.

In addition, business students, as well as students in engineering and other disciplines, are encouraged to create business plans based on their innovative ideas and what they have learned, and compete against other students in the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Business Plan Competition, coordinated through Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology. A list of finalists can be found at www.govcupnevada.org, and winners will be announced April 22.

The College of Business also houses the Nevada Small Business Development Center, which provides counseling and workshops for new or expanding businesses, as well as internships for business students so they can be exposed to real-life entrepreneurial activity as part of their educational experience.

We all have a part to play in our state’s economic recovery and must find ways to encourage that our greatest asset — human capital — stays here, to contribute to our economic growth and diversification.

Jane Bessette is director of career development at the University of Nevada, Reno College of Business.  www.business.unr.edu/

Michael Chestone competed not once, but twice in the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup, walking away with first place honors in 2006. Today he has turned his business plan into his professional livelihood, serving as manager of Utility Scale projects for Sharp Electronics Corp.

“I am currently in the same industry that my project was based around – thin film photovoltaics, or thin film solar electric,” explains Chestone. “While our project had a slightly different twist on application, the technology was very similar. I currently work at one of the world’s largest photovoltaic manufacturers, and manage utility scale project sales and implementations. We are part of an industry revolution that is moving beyond rooftop solar installations and now realizing the introduction of large-scale solar fields as electricity generating or power plants that will be providing clean power for millions of Americans over the next couple of years.”

The Governor’s Cup not only helped Chestone develop his business plan, but taught him that perseverance is everything in the real world.

“We competed the first year and made the finalist round, but did not place. We put our nose to the grindstone, worked hard, listened closely to our mentors and the judges’ feedback, and then went back the next year to take first place,” says Chestone. “That feeling of accomplishment after working on something for two years and having lost the first year was irreplaceable. We learned to work hard, surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, and follow through on good advice.”