Eligibility Requirements & Competition Rules

The Queens Business Plan Competition sponsored by Citibank will select and honor nine (9) original Business Plans for prospective Queens Businesses.

 Please read the following eligibility requirements and competition rules.

1.             Application. Entrants to the competition must complete an eligibility application to enter the Queens Business Plan Competition. Applications will be distributed only at the Orientation Sessions. Completed applications must be postmarked or received at the Queens Economic Development Corporation by Wednesday, November 1, 2006 by 5:00 pm.

2.             Age. All Competition applicants must be 18 years of age and must be residents of Queens. Documentation will be required.

3.             Location. The business proposed in the applicant's Competition application must operate in the Borough of Queens, New York.

4.            Residency. All individual applicants and team members must be legal residents or U.S. citizens. All individual applicants and team leaders must be residents of Queens. Documentation will be required of the finalists.

5.           Start Ups Only. All businesses must have ideas or business concepts that require startup capital. Existing and operational businesses are not eligible. If your venture has an existing Employer Identification Number (EIN) issued by the IRS and/or has structured itself previously as a C-Corporation, S-Corporation, LL’s, sole proprietorship, or partnership, you will be asked to explain on the application form why your business is a start up.

6.            Individual and Team Entry. One or more people (up to five individuals) may submit an entry as part of a team, if all members are involved in the proposed business described in the Competition Team applications must list all individuals on the team. Competition entrants may enter only once, either as an individual or as part of a team. The team must appoint one individual as the main contact and one other as the secondary contact. All team members will sign the application reflecting their understanding and acceptance of the stated rules. The competition purse awarded represents the financial amount in total that will be given to: a team's main contact to be disbursed to use for the purposes stated in the Competition plan.

7.           Orientation Sessions. All eligible applicants must attend one of the Competition orientation sessions at the Queens Library. This session will cover the competition requirements and will review the process that will be used to judge the business plans and disburse awards. Applications for the Competition will be distributed only at the orientation session. Signed applications are due by Wednesday, November 1,2006 by 5pm.

8.             Classes. All eligible individual applicants and either the primary or secondary member of an eligible team will be required to attend two of three educational workshops held November through February, 2006.

9.             Deadline. All StartUP! business plans are due by 5:00 pm on April 1, 2005. Applicants must submit two non electronic copies of their business plan to this address:

Queens Economic Development Corporation

Queens 2006 StartUp! Business Plan Competition

120-55 Queens Blvd

Suite 309

Kew Gardens, NY 11424

10.          Ineligibility. Queens Public Library employees, Trustees, Success Council members, competition sponsors, or their family members are not eligible to enter The Queens Business Plan Competition either individually or as any part of a team.

11.          Finalists. Finalists may be asked to provide a current credit report.

12.       Expense Reimbursement. The competition sponsors will not reimburse entrants for any expenses related to or developing from the compilation or assembly of any business plan for entry in the competition. Working models or prototypes will not be accepted. The Business Plan will not be returned and will be destroyed after the competition has ended.

13.         Disbursement of Funds. Prize money will be awarded to each winner following the end of the competition. The winning Competition entrant or team will have sole responsibility for deciding how to allocate or otherwise use its prize proceeds. The organizers of the Competition will not be involved, either voluntarily or by request, in a team's decision concerning the allocation or use of its prize proceeds. Please note that these awards are taxable and that the Queens Public Library must have each winner's Social Security number before a check can be issued.

14.         Confidentiality. Queens Public Library recognizes that entrants may be concerned about the confidentiality of their business plans. Business plans will not be copied for any purpose other than the competition. Entrants are also permitted to exclude any information they regard as confidential. The short description of your business  idea_ will be considered a "public summary" of your plan and may be used in public documentation related to the competition. While all reasonable ensure will be taken to ensure the protection of intellectual property and preserve the confidentiality of each submission, Queens Public Library cannot take further responsibility to protect the intellectual property or other rights of each contestant. Protection of such rights is ultimately the responsibility of each applicant.

15.          Disqualification. Violation of any one or multiple rules for eligibility may result in disqualification from the Queens Business Plan Competition at any point of the discovery of the violation.

Queens Public Library does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its programs, services and activities.

Back to top