About
Tri-State Donald W. Reynolds Cup
The Third Annual Tri-State Award business plan competition will be held in Las Vegas in May 2011. The Tri-State Award represents the pinnacle of three statewide business plan competitions where the top two teams (undergraduate & graduate) from each state will compete for cash awards totaling $90,000. The 2011 Donald W. Reynolds Award is an invitation only event. Invitations will be extended to the first and second place winners of the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup in Arkansas, Nevada, and Oklahoma. Those invited will include first and second place winners from both the undergraduate and graduate tracks. A final list of the competitors for the 2011 Tri-State Event will be posted upon the commencement of the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup in each state.
Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup
The Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup is a statewide undergraduate & graduate business plan competition designed to encourage students in Arkansas, Nevada, and Oklahoma to act upon their ideas and talents in order to produce tomorrow’s businesses. This competition is aimed at simulating the real-world process of entrepreneurs creating a business plan to soliciting start-up funds from potential investors. Students involved in this competition gain access to networks of successful entrepreneurs, lenders and investors, team building opportunities, business planning skills, and media exposure.
Competitors
The statewide Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup competition has been fortunate to receive the support of many universities and colleges. In the spirit of promoting entrepreneurship, the following schools have participated in the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup:
In Arkansas
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In Nevada
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In Oklahoma
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What our Students Say:
The best part [of the competition] was the complete process.
Kaustav Sinha, Team Leader of NanoVation
University of Nevada – Reno
Business leaders from Arkansas judged our plans, critically analyzed the gaps in the plan, and gave us professional advice on how we could improve it. This type of exposure is something most students will never get.
Matt Tice, Team Leader
John Brown University
This competition… has facilitated networking and financing opportunities that would have taken me years to develop.
Stuart Walker, Team Leader
University of Arkansas
If it weren’t for the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup competition, I doubt I would have broken away from the corporate ladder climb.
John Hassell, Team Leader of Zigbeef
University of Oklahoma – Tulsa
What really inspired me was competing in the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup and seeing that there was actual interest. I always wanted to run my own business and now it’s becoming a reality.
Ted Goodridge, Team Leader of Elite Engines
University of Oklahoma
The Evolution of the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup
| 2001 | Arkansas Capital Corporation conceived the idea for statewide business plan competition to promote and elevate the discussion for entrepreneurship with the state. This vision was about creating a first-class competition; one that would send a message to students that the resources to succeed in business can be found right here in Arkansas. Since then, this statewide business plan competition has, not only achieved that goal, but the competition has since spurred the creation of several other statewide business plan competitions. |
| 2003 | The Governor’s Cup business plan competition created a separate track for undergraduate and graduate students. |
| 2004 | The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation made a major grant to the competition, while providing the funds to establish sister statewide business plan competitions in Oklahoma and Nevada. With the foundation’s gift, the competition was named after the late media entrepreneur Donald W. Reynolds, for whom the foundation is also named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States.
In 2004, the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation also created the first annual Arkansas HBCU Entrepreneurial Challenge, a statewide business plan competition for Arkansas’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). This competition was designed to and continues to promote competition and participation within Arkansas’s HBCU’s. |
| 2005 | The Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation created the state’s first annual Youth Entrepreneur Showcase (Y.E.S.) for Arkansas. Y.E.S. for Arkansas is a statewide business plan competition where students in grades 5-8 showcase their potential for creativity, intuition, and innovation. This approach encourages students to apply what they learn in school to a real world setting. |
| 2008 | On May 15, 2008, the First Annual Tri-State Award business plan competition was held in Las Vegas. The Tri-State Award represents the pinnacle of the three statewide business plan competitions for Arkansas, Nevada, and Oklahoma. Here, the top two teams (undergraduate & graduate) from each state will compete for cash awards totaling $90,000. |
| 2009 | The Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup business plan competition has incorporated Arkansas’s 2 Year Colleges and Universities into the undergraduate track. |
Donald W. Reynolds
1906-1993
Donald Worthington Reynolds was born in 1906 to Anna Louise and Gaines W. Reynolds, a traveling wholesale grocery salesman. He spent his childhood in Oklahoma City and got his first job in the newspaper business selling papers at the local railroad depot.
After high school, the young Mr. Reynolds decided that he wanted to attend the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. To pay for his studies, he worked during high school and over several summers at a meat packing plant in Oklahoma City. He graduated from the University in 1927.
Mr. Reynold’s first business venture after his graduation was a photo engraving plant. With $1,000 in capital (part of which he borrowed), he invested a photo engraving plant. Using profits from this venture, he purchased and then sold his first newspaper – the Quincy Evening News (Massachusetts). Using proceeds from that sale, he purchased the Okmulgee Daily Times (Oklahoma) and the Southwest Times Record (Arkansas), the two publications that launched the Donrey Media Group.
The Donrey Media Group operated mostly in small communities. Throughout his life Mr. Reynolds continually expanded his business enterprise, ultimately owning over 100 businesses, including newspapers, radio stations, television stations, cable television operations, and billboard companies. The Donrey Media Group became one of the nation’s largest privately held media companies.
Upon his death in 1993, Donrey Media Group was sold. As a bequest from Mr. Reynold’s estate, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation which he created in 1954 received a substantial endowment. Since his business acumen was focused on businesses located in small, but growth-oriented communities, these communities were often the recipients of the Foundation’s earliest charitable grants. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation continues his legacy of charitable giving and it is from this foundation that a multi-million dollar grant was awarded to the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation in 2004 to promote entrepreneurship education within the states of Arkansas, Nevada, and Oklahoma.