Venture Island Announces Judges
Golden Capital Network, CEPCO, North Valley Community Foundation, NoRTEC and the Chico Enterprise-Record are pleased to announce the slate of expert judges for the Venture Island|Chico kickoff on February 21 at Manzanita Place in Chico. For more information and to register for Venture Island|Chico, please click HERE.
This team of expert judges brings an unprecedented amount of CEO, investment, operations, marketing and sales, technology and human resources knowledge to Chico! Judges confirmed to participate in the kickoff event are:
- Roger Akers, Akers Capital
- Craig Buda, OpSource
- Bill Reichert, Garage Technology Ventures
- John Strisower, UVaCide
- Christian Friedland, Improvement Direct
- Jeff Schlicht, Auctiva
- Glen Toney, Retired Silicon Valley Executive
- Skip Phairas, High Tech Executive and Private Investor
- Steve Nilan, Fundability
Golden Capital Network, NVCF, CEPCO and NoRTEC are seeking entrepreneurs from throughout Chico and Northern California to compete in the first season of Venture Island|Chico. To be considered, entrepreneurs must submit up to a 3-page executive summary to ventureislandchico@gmail.com by Friday, February 15. Companies must have high growth potential, but current annual sales must not exceed one million dollars. Venture Island|Chico is like YouTube, Survivor and American Idol all combined into one “can’t miss” series of networking events for entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders!
Participating entrepreneurs compete to build their businesses and have an opportunity to land a substantial cash prize. Entrepreneurs also benefit from free executive mentoring and advising, peer-to-peer networking, and unparalleled visibility for their businesses.
To be considered, entrepreneurs must submit up to a 3-page executive summary to ventureislandchico@gmail.com by Friday, February 15. Companies must have high growth potential, but current annual sales must not exceed one million dollars.
Venture Island|Chico kicks off on February 21 with a special event called The Whole Pina Colada. Entrepreneurs vying to participate on Venture Island will do 2-minute screen tests that a panel of expert judges and the audience at large will use as the means to select eight contestants in the first season. The field of eight entrepreneurs is eventually narrowed to three and culminates in the Climb Kahuna Mountain competition and check presentation on June 26 as part of CEPCO’s annual awards dinner held at the Sierra Nevada Big Room.
Venture Island|Chico is made possible through the support of NoRTEC as part of the North State WIRED project, and a federal EDA grant. Local sponsors of the event include Chico Electric, Enloe Hospital, LearningChange and Morgan Dorado Public Relations.