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Seventh Annual Five Ventures® Business Plan Competition Underway at www.Five-Ventures.com

UNC Charlotte’s Charlotte Research Institute Launches New Website, Brand and Expanded Format for Annual $100,000 Competition. Five Ventures Business Plan Competition and Conference

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Five Ventures® has announced the launch of the seventh annual business plan competition and conference at UNC Charlotte, featuring a new website and larger purse.

Local entrepreneurs throughout the Southeast region can now submit executive summaries in order to compete for over $100,000 in cash and in-kind services.

“The Five Ventures Business Plan Competition and Conference serves as the catalyst program linking the business, technology, academic and entrepreneurial communities within the Charlotte region,” said Robert Wilhelm, executive director of the Charlotte Research Institute. “Local entrepreneurs have an excellent opportunity to gain the mentorship, guidance, cash and the services necessary to build their dream businesses.”

Five Ventures® is a free competition, open to any aspiring entrepreneur with an early-stage high-growth business within the Southeast region of the county. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to submit their executive summaries via the www.Five-Ventures.com website.

“We’ve expanded the program significantly,” said Kenneth Paulus, producer of Five Ventures®. “Based on the tremendous success and diversity of past Five Ventures competitions, the UNC Charlotte recognized the need to expand the program and offer specific segments by which entrepreneurs will now compete.”

Upon submission, businesses will be segmented into one of five sectors – Biotechnology, Information Technology, Advanced Manufacturing, Green Technology and Service/Retail. Five Ventures also will be offering free, interactive training sessions to all interested parties via three webcasts during the month of February.

Finalists will continue to receive one-on-one mentoring and coaching from a network of over 50 volunteer professionals from throughout the region. The finals of Five Ventures® will take place on April 10 at the UNC Charlotte’s Barnhardt Student Activities Center.

Five Ventures® is continuing to seek sponsors, volunteers and aspiring entrepreneurs interested in participating in the program. For more information visit www.Five-Ventures.com.

Sponsors of the 2008 Five Ventures® Business Plan Competition and Conference include: Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte; Charlotte Research Institute; Office of Technology Transfer at UNC Charlotte; Business Wire; Hammer & Hanf, PC; Bright Yellow Jacket; The Business Law Advisors; BIG Council; North Carolina Biotechnology Center; Frontier Capital; Summa, Allan & Additon, PA; SwampFox and the SBTDC of North Carolina.

About the Charlotte Research Institute

The Charlotte Research Institute is the portal for business-university partnerships at UNC Charlotte. CRI operates eight multidisciplinary research centers and the Ben Craig Center, a business incubator. CRI supports new research ventures, partnerships with regional and national enterprises, and spin-off companies created from UNC Charlotte research results. The centers focus on Precision Metrology, eBusiness Technology, Optoelectronics and Optical Communications, Visualization, Motorsports Engineering, Bioinformatics, Life Sciences and Biomedical Engineering Systems. http://www.CharlotteResearchInstitute.org

About UNC Charlotte

A public research university, UNC Charlotte is the fourth largest campus among the 17 institutions of the University of North Carolina system. It is the largest institution of higher education in the Charlotte region. The university offers 18 doctoral programs, 61 master’s degree programs and 89 programs leading to bachelor’s degrees. Fall 2007 enrollment exceeds 22,300 students, including almost 4,800 graduate students. http://www.uncc.edu