Official Rules for Entry

1. Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge 2005 presented by COSE and Crain’s Cleveland Business is a competition among Northeast Ohio entrepreneurs to identify viable business opportunities through quality business plans (the “Plan”) in several different categories (the “Competition”). COSE will award prizes for the best Plan in selected categories and in selected demographic categories. The Competition begins on December 14, 2004 and ends on August 3rd, 2005. Cash prizes will be awarded in November 2005.

2. Competition entrants agree to abide by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of COSE and the Competition judges, which are final on all matters pertaining to the Competition. Competition entrants must be either members of the Greater Cleveland Partnership/COSE, the Greater Akron Chamber, CAMP, NEOSA, affiliated with NEO411.biz and/or its members, or residents of Northeast Ohio with an established business venture or planning to launch a business venture in Ashland, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Trumbull or Wayne County. Employees of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, its subsidiaries and/or affiliates of the Greater Cleveland Partnership (“GCP”) and COSE, the Greater Akron Chamber, CAMP, NEOSA, and all cash or prize sponsors to the Challenge are not eligible to enter. Limit one Plan entry per person, whether individually or as a group or as part of any type of business entity.

3. COSE will award a total of up to thirty-three (33) cash prizes as outlined below.

The Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge 2005 Category winners will receive $30,000 for the top Plans in each Category. The Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge 2005 Judges Special Recognition Awards will recognize up to 30 plans with individual monetary awards. The Category and Special Recognition Award winners will also receive business services as outlined in the Business Plan Prize List. In order to be eligible to receive a prize, winners must sign a release for use of their name, their business entity name, their principal owner or operator name and for use of their likeness or the likeness of their business in any photograph or advertisement for COSE in order to accept the prize. All taxes, fees, and surcharges on prizes are the sole responsibility of the winners. Winners may elect not to accept certain prizes at their sole discretion. Prizes are not assignable or transferable. Winners of the Competition must also agree to be “shadowed” by a reporter(s) and/or photographer(s) selected by COSE/GCP to document business development progress during the 12-month period following the event announcement at COSE’s Annual Meeting in 2005, and must also consent to publication of all information gathered by such reporter and photographer. Cash Prizes will be awarded in the name of the company in which the business plan was submitted upon receipt, within 30 days after the contestant receives notice of winning, of the federal tax identification number for the applicable business. Cash Prizes awarded to a start up or newly formed business which does not yet have a federal tax identification number will be awarded in the names of the individuals identified in the business plan as owners of the company as submitted, upon receipt, within 30 days after the contestant receives notice of winning, of applicable social security numbers. Non-compliance with any of the time periods set forth herein may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner.

4. Business Plan Challenge entrants are encouraged to seek assistance from the various organizations, service providers and educational institutions in the region in order to complete the Plan. The ideas and concepts presented in the Plan, however, must be those of the entrant. Entrants must be the owner or shareholder of the business for which the plan is written. Entrants must verify their ownership rights in a notarized Letter of Intent submitted by Wednesday, July 13th, 2005. Applicants may work with a consultant or have a third party assist in the completion of the Plan, provided that such assistance is credited in the Plan. This assistance will not impact the entrant’s ability to win. COSE reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Competition or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules.

5. Plans must be submitted in the format contained in the Business Plan Checklist. You must include six (6) identical bound copies of your Plan. One (1) bound copy of the Executive Summary must also be submitted. Both the Plans and the individually bound executive summaries must be velo, comb or spiral bound. Hard cover, three-ring binders CANNOT be accepted. The body of the Plan may not exceed 65 pages, including the Official Entry Form, Title Page, Table of Contents and financial projections and statements. Plan appendices may not exceed 25 pages. Executive Summaries may not exceed two pages. The Official Entry Form must be bound into the Plan as the first page. Plans must be typewritten in a font no smaller than 12 pt. All mail-in entries must be postmarked by Monday, August 1st, 2005. Couriered or hand-delivered plans must reach COSE by Wednesday, August 3rd, 2005 by 3:00 p.m. E.S.T. at 50 Public Square, Suite 200, Cleveland, OH 44113. No responsibility is assumed by COSE for lost, late, misdirected, illegible or mutilated entries.

6. All Plans must include a discussion of standard elements of the business including those listed in the Required Elements of a Business Plan document. Partially completed plans will be disqualified.

7. All Plans will be reviewed through a dual review process. Independent experts will make an initial review to evaluate and rate the viability and completeness of the Plan. These volunteers will forward their recommended Plans to a panel consisting of independent volunteers and COSE staff members who will make the final award decisions for the Plans in each Category. Plans will be reviewed for viability of business idea, creativity and feasibility of the Plan. The decision of the judges is final. Winners will be notified via email, U.S. mail and/or telephone. Return of any prize/prize notification as undeliverable may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner.

8. Plans will be judged in three (3) main categories:

Entrants must fit the description of one of the following (3) main categories to be eligible for the Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge 2005. Only one category may be selected. If the company fits more than one of the following categories, the Challenge entrant(s) must decide in which category the business will be most accurately judged.

Main Categories

Startup Business Plan:
Eligible businesses for the startup category are new business ventures that are less than three years old. Any business that filed a tax return for the 2002 business year or earlier is not eligible. The business does not have to offer an original product or service. Franchise plans developed by the franchiser and submitted by the franchisee are not eligible.

Growth/Innovation Business Plan:
Eligible businesses for the innovation/growth category must submit a plan for a new product, new distribution method, new or additional markets, change in ownership or change in organizational structure that will result in revenue growth.

Business Idea/Concept Business Plan:
A Plan consisting of a business concept or idea that is intended to result in a business enterprise sometime in the future. The writer/owner/shareholder(s) of the plan has not taken the necessary steps to implement the plan or has begun the start up phase of a business venture such as establish the business venture’s legal structure, maintenance of a business checking account, obtained a federal tax identification number or has filed or has intent to file a tax return reflecting business income or expense in 2005.

Entrants must select only one of the previous three categories. If none of these categories apply to a business, the business is not eligible for entry into the Challenge.

If the Business Plan meets the above criteria, entrants may also select any of the following eight (8) Judges Special Recognition Categories that apply:

Judges Special Recognition Categories

Manufacturing Business Plan:
The company must manufacture, make or produce a product. A product may be a device, part or component to be sold to the industrial, automotive, electronics, computer, biotech, business-to-business and consumer end-use markets.

Technology Business Plan:
Technology must be a crucial or integral part of the operation or product of the company, inclusive of, but not exclusive to the following: biotechnology, advanced materials, software development, Internet-based companies (the Internet must be a key element of the business model, not just an additional distribution channel).

30 & Under Plan:
A plan authored by an entrepreneur or entrepreneurs who will not turn 31 years of age before Jan. 1, 2006. No entrepreneur or person authoring the plan in this category can be over the age limit. This category is intended for students and recent graduates at any level. To be eligible for a cash award, the recipient must be 18 years of age by December 1, 2005.

Female Business Plan:
A plan written by a certified Female Business Enterprise (FBE) company or a business in which the female individual is at least a 51 percent owner of the resulting business.

Minority Business Plan:
A plan written by a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) company or a business in which the minority individual is at least a 51 percent owner of the resulting business. The business owners may fall in one or more of the following categories: Asian-Indian American, Asian-Pacific American, Black American, Hispanic American, and Native American. For the purposes of this Challenge, women are not considered minorities.

Non-Profit Business Plan:
A plan written by a non-profit organization which addresses one or more of the following mechanisms to achieve efficiency and greater impact: new strategic alliances, collaborations or partnerships, an organizational restructuring or consolidation or a new or improved revenue model that will allow self-funding for future sustainability.

Artist Business Plan:
All professional artist entrepreneurs, including emerging entrepreneurs, are eligible to submit a business plan in this category. The arts must be a crucial or integral part of the operation or product of the business. For the purposes of the Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge 2005, both originating and interpretive artists working in the following disciplines are eligible: visual (painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, mixed media, graphic design, architect, film, video and computer graphics), crafts, dance, music, theater, literature, performance and multi-media.

Sustainability:
The plan must be for a business, product or service that improves our quality of life while maintaining the capacity of the environment to provide for future generations. Common examples include local/organic food, new energy technologies, healthy/high performance or green building products or technologies, restoration technologies (air, water or soil rejuvenation), and fuel-efficient transportation.

9. Entrants who received a cash prize in either the COSE (VentureQuest) Business Plan Challenge 2002 or the COSE Business Plan Challenge 2003 are not eligible to apply for the Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge 2005.

The Competition is intended for firms that are not actively considering substantial venture capital at the present time, nor have received substantial venture capital in the past (6 months). Therefore, companies that have received a private investment of $500,000 or greater (in the past 6 months), or are currently considering a Term Sheet of $500,000 or greater are not eligible for the 2005 Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge.

10. Letters of Intent and Plan entries will not be returned to the entrant. One copy will be retained by COSE for archival purposes. COSE is not responsible for any delay, error, omission, interruption, theft, destruction, alteration, or unauthorized publication or use of entries. If, for any reason, the contest is not capable of operating as planned, due to any cause beyond the control of COSE which might affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the contest, COSE reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the contest.

11. While every effort will be made to preserve the confidentiality of each submission, it is suggested that highly sensitive material be excluded from the business plan if there is a concern about the confidentiality of such material. Technical drawings and formulae need not be shown as part of the plan. All reasonable measures to ensure the protection of intellectual property introduced and associated with the Challenge will be taken. NEO411, COSE and all others associated with the Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge cannot take further responsibility to protect the intellectual property or other rights of the participants. Protection of such rights is ultimately the responsibility of each participant.

12. Northeast Ohio Business Plan Challenge 2005 is sponsored by the Council of Smaller Enterprises, Greater Cleveland Partnership, 50 Public Square, Suite 200, Cleveland, OH 44113. For a list of the Business Plan Challenge winners, please see the Challenge web site.