Preparation begins for Governor’s Cup competition

By Susannah Waite

Every year students from Meinders School of Business compete in the Governor’s Cup.

The Governor’s Cup is an Oklahoma competition where groups of students create business plans for start-up or early stage ventures.

Nora Gnabasik, marketing junior, is competing in the Governor’s Cup for the second year in a row.

“I think the competition is really great,” Gnabasik said. “It’s real world experience in a learning situation, with competition.”

Gnabasik’s group is currently in the preliminary stages of the process.

“We are focusing on brainstorming and focusing on the products, then we will get registered,” she said.

Throughout the process, the group will work to create a business plan for a product, including researching, analyzing numbers, demographics, projecting five-year estimates, and how to repay potential investors.

“We have the opportunity to pitch the plan to a group of investors, and there is a lot of money and opportunities involved,” she said.

Gnabasik said she believes she has benefited a lot from participating in the competition.

“I benefit most from the experience of doing it,” Gnabasik said. “I develop skills such as management of people, time management, and I really benefit from the real life application.

“It definitely gave me an idea of what I did and didn’t like in the business world.”

Steve Agee, dean of the business school, said the competition helps students learn outside the classroom.

“It gives students a broader breadth of knowledge of what goes on in the applied world outside of academia,” Agee said.

Gnabasik uses what she has learned thus far to benefit the group during the competition.

“When it comes to presentation time, public speaking and pitching is my job,” she said.

Watching the project come to fruition is rewarding, Gnabasik said.

“ My favorite part is actually just building something from the ground up and looking at all you’ve accomplished,” Gnabasik said. “It’s a little like your child, and having real life business people tell you that you did a good job is great.”