MBA Student Wins Top Prizes

SOM MBA Student Jennifer Loofbourrow shares her experience at the 2018 Alaska Business Plan Competition.



As a student enrolled in the MBA program, I was taking the New Venture Development course taught by Dr. Ping Lan. Throughout the semester, Dr. Lan encouraged participation in the Alaska Business Plan Competition put on by the UAA Center for Economic Development Business Enterprise Institute. I wrote my business plan drawing on the constructive and positive feedback I received from my fellow students in the MBA program at UAF. I applied the course material, engaged in activities to refine my concept, identified the target market, and interviewed potential customers to validate the concept.

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Overall, the experience gave me an opportunity to put into action the course work I have learned and further validate my plan before developing it further. It also provided excellent feedback and preparation for future steps in the growth of any company – pitching a plan and being prepared to answer questions. If you are writing a business plan for a real startup or a class, I highly recommend students and non-students alike participate in this event, or ones like it - including UAF’s own Arctic Innovation Competition.