The University of Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute will host its first annual Capstone Concept Pitch Competition, and the winning participants will be awarded cash prizes.

On Feb. 20, the competition, sponsored by UA Movement, Creative Campus and Alabama CEO, will be held during the University’s Entrepreneurship Week Celebration in Room 112 in the AIME building.

“The original idea was to have a lecture,” said Kellie Gentry, president of UA Movement. “Dr. [Lou] Marino suggested the idea of doing a competition because the business school wanted greater student involvement.”

The pitches will be judged on presentation quality, explanation of the business concept and the quality of the proposed project.

“The competition came out of the need to have greater student involvement,” said Kirk Key, an intern with Creative Campus. “Creative Campus is an interdisciplinary group, but partnering with the business school is a little different for us.”

There are two rounds to the competition. In the first round, students submit a one to two-minute video that explains how their idea will work. The second round is the final round and students present business plans to a panel of judges, they award scores and the idea with the highest score wins the prize, Gentry said.

Gentry said the video should solve any social or environmental idea in the Tuscaloosa community, and all ideas that are related to cleaning up debris from the April 27 tornado are encouraged.

“It’s a great way for students with great ideas to get involved,” Gentry said.

The competition will be limited to 12 teams and cash prizes of $500, $200 and $100 will be awarded to the first, second and third place winners, respectively. At least one team member must be currently enrolled at the University of Alabama in order for the group to be eligible.

“This competition is a chance for student entrepreneurs to earn money and help the community,” Key said.

Although this is the competition’s first year, operations have been running smoothly, though the greatest issue has been with student submissions, Key said.

“Submission has been low,” Key said. “We want more students to become involved with the competition.”

Interested participants should send an email of their intent to participate no later than Feb. 13 to Marino, professor of entrepreneurship and strategic management, at [email protected].