SU Celebrates Inaugural Entrepreneurship Week May 4-9

SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury University celebrates its inaugural Entrepreneurship Week from Monday-Saturday, May 4-9.

Highlights include business funding competitions and auditions in Perdue Hall from Thursday-Saturday, May 7-9.

The fourth round of SU’s Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Shore Hatchery program is Thursday, May 7. The goal of the $1 million program is to fund entrepreneurs in the mid-Atlantic and have new businesses opening within six months, with the potential of employing three or more within a year.

Some $125,000 is available to winners of this semester’s round, which begins in the early afternoon with a Shark Tank/Gull Cage competition. Several will advance to a business case round, which the public is invited to view, beginning at 3:30 p.m. in Bennett Family Auditorium. Winners are expected to be announced at approximately 6 p.m.

SU’s annual Entrepreneurship Competitions, for students, are Friday, May 8, with a prize pool goal of $100,000. Competitions include an “Invest in My Idea” poster session and a Shark Tank/Gull Cage round, during which students will present “elevator” pitches to the judges.

The top four finalists move on to the annual Bernstein Achievement Award for Excellence competition, vying for a grand prize of $10,000. Their presentations, open to the public, begin at 2:30 p.m. in Bennett Family Auditorium. An awards ceremony follows at 5:30 p.m. in the Perdue Hall Atrium.

On Saturday, May 9, the hit ABC-TV show Shark Tank returns to Perdue Hall to host its second casting call at SU in two years, in connection with 47 ABC and Maryland Capital Enterprises. On-site registration begins at 9 a.m., with filmed auditions starting at 10 a.m.

Last year’s casting call drew entrepreneurs throughout the East Coast. To sign up in advance, or for more information, visit the 47 ABC website at www.47abc.com.

Sponsored by the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business, admission to all Entrepreneurship Week events is free. For more information call 410-543-6316 or visit the Perdue School website at www.salisbury.edu/perdue.