The Mona School of Business, UWI received the “Best Presentation” award in the Opportunity Funding Venture Challenge Competition (OFCVC), a business plan competition held recently in Atlanta, USA. The Mona School of Business was also placed third in the competition which saw the participation of twenty-one (21) US-based colleges and universities. MSB has been participating in the competition since 2003 and is currently the only business school outside of the USA that participates each year.

The MSB team consisted of Oral Farquharson, Karl Rowe, Wadia Lazarus, Maurice Thompson and Jacqueline Swaby, who were also the winners in the local UWI Vincent Ho Sang Venture Challenge Competition. In preparation for the Challenge Competition the team was exposed to extensive training in both the preparation of the written business plan as well as oral delivery of the plan.

The MSB team presented a plan for a Digital Gaming System which explored Information Communication and Technology (ICT) to link micro processor powered gaming machines across Jamaica. The Team also received an offer for venture-capital support.

The OFCVC was designed to assist historically Black colleges and universities develop a comprehensive entrepreneurship curriculum that would be particularly relevant in preparing young African-American to become entrepreneurs. The Business Plan Competition requires college students to conceive a business idea, write a business plan, and present the plan in competition with other student groups at their schools. The winning teams from each school then compete for the national title each year in April in Atlanta.